You understand
by bloodmoon13
Summary: As a small joke Beast Boy signs Raven up to be in this 'online friends' chat room. Where she is given a random person to communicate with. For the first time she meets someone who understands...
1. Chapter 1

**Hey I have another new story here and this time I'm doing a Teen Titans and Danny Phantom crossover thing here. I hope you all like it. If you do like it then try reading my other stories and check out my profile about any new story ideas I'm thinking of. If you haven't seen the new episodes of DP yet then check out livevideo to watch them. My updates are coming in slower and slower I know. But I'm trying to come up with some sort of schedule, but I have three sisters for crying out loud! And there's only one computer, I may have to start working at the library whenever I can get a computer that's available.

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_**You understand**_

_**Chapter 1

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"Please?"

"No"

"Pretty Please?"

"No!"

"Pretty, Pretty Please?"

"NO!"

"Pretty Please with a cherry on to-"

"I SAID NO!!!" Raven yelled out making Beast boy shirk in fear under her rage. Just the glare that the demon sorceress was enough to shut the green changeling up.

He had learned a long time ago when to stop bothering Raven...

Raven took a few meditation breaths to calm down before she addressed Beast Boy again, "I said no Beast Boy," she said dryly, "I do not want to be the referee for another one of your stupid made up games, alright,"

"But-"

"Give it up BB," both heroes turned to Cyborg who was busy playing a video against Robin, "There's no way your going to get her to play," he smirked, "When Rae doesn't want to play she doesn't want to play. BOOYA!" The half machine, half human shouted as his robot on the giant screen just finished blowing up another robot.

"No way!" cried Robin, "Rematch,"

"Fine, but get ready to get your but kicked a second time,"

Raven ignored the two boys as they tried to beat the other's robot in a virtual world that didn't exist, and in her opinion it was just another way for teenage boys to waste their life, by blowing stuff up. Shaking her head she picked up the book that she had been reading before Beast Boy had interrupted her, _again._ Beast Boy had retreated to the couch to play winner.

At least he was out of her way now...

Walking down the silent corridor that led to her room, Raven let out a surprised cry as a strong hand came out of no where pulling her into a room.

"Friend Raven!" chirped Starefire gleefully, "How are you!"

"Fine," Raven responded doing the best she could to hide her annoyance toward the other female Titan. Starfire was okay but at times she could be just as annoying as Beast Boy.

Like right now.

"Friend Raven I require your assistance," the tameranian princess said.

Raven sighed, "Sure, what is it,"

"Well you see I need the make the over for our friends,"

This was something that Raven could definitely _help _with.

"Sure Starfire," she said with an evil gleam in her eye.

"Wonderful! I must go and find them now!" Starfire flew off happily in search of their friends.

Raven was sure that the preppy alien was sure to force the boys to have to go shopping. It was something that Raven would be sure to bring a camera for. For when ever Starfire wanted to go shopping, you could b sure that she would be at it for at least five hours straight and that's if there _isn't _anywhere in the mall.

Smiling at what kind of torment the boys were going to have to face, the half-demon made her way back to her room. It was dark, just the way she liked it, with the curtains closed so that no light could enter. There were shelves full of books in varies of languages about magic, spells, ancient ruins, and potions.

There was an assortment of creepy things as well including a couple of shrunken heads, potions on different colors, and a few shiny, smooth stones. The room had the basic furniture, all shaped and painted to her liking, black. The only small light that was in the room came from candles on her night stand.

Settling in a comfortable position Raven began to read where she had left off before Beast Boy had interrupted her. It was a really good book and Raven hoped to finish it in a couple a days if crime was slow. She had barely even started reading before there was a knock on the door. Letting out an irritated breath, Raven got up to see who was knocking on her door.

She opened the door to see a terrified Beast Boy trembling before her. Before she could ask what had spooked him out so bad he darted into the sorceress's room to ride under her bed.

"She's coming! SHE'S COMING!" he repeated over and over again.

Sure Raven could care less but an inner voice told her that she could at least ask what was wrong with him and then ignore him. "Who's coming?" she asked without the slightest interest what so ever.

Just then her answer came right through her door dragging behind her two tied up heroes. Cyborg had a huge bump on his head and a dirty old sock stuffed into his mouth and judging from the stench Raven was sure that for the next three weeks Cyborg will be in the bathroom doing nothing but gargle with some very strong acid. Next to him tied up in a cocoon was Robin, his utility belt was gone along with his shoes. That confused Raven a bit, but then again it was Starfire they were dealing with.

Raven just couldn't help but smile at the torture that her team mates were going through.

"Friend Raven have you seen Beast Boy?" Starfire asked, "I am quite certain that I saw him enter your room,"

_Hmmm should I betray Beast Boy?_ Raven thought to herself, then she remembered today's incident at breakfast, _definitely betray Beast Boy. _One glance over her shoulder and Raven saw the slight trembling figure that was Beast Boy underneath her bed shaking his head back and forth mouthing out a pathetic plea for help to nobody in particular.

In his desperate state of mind he had completely forgotten that he could have turned into a small animal and sneaked out unnoticed. The look he was giving the demon sorceress almost convinced her to reconsider, _almost._

"I haven't seen him Star," Raven replied innocently. Beast Boy let out a sigh of relief while Starfire looked a bit disappointed.

"Oh,"

"But you're welcome to take a look if you want," smiled Raven evilly letting her friend go past her into her room. Beast Boy was sweating a river and had bitten his nails so much they were now red and sore.

His mind was racing so fast that for the first time nobody could have followed along.

'_Oh no here she comes!'_

Starfire started to lift up some of Raven's furniture with her super strength looking behind between and underneath for any sign of her terrified green friend.

'_She's going to kill me!'_

He could see Starfire's shoes from underneath the bed. The sound of an opening door which was probably Raven's closet then the shuffling as clothes were set aside to expose any thing on the floor or in the back.

'_I'm going to die!'_

Raven leaned against the wall smirking as Starfire got closer and closer to where Beast Boy was hiding. Ignoring the muffled sounds that came from the other Titans who were trying as hard as they could to free themselves of their restraints. Too bad for them that Starfire knew exactly how to tie up hostages so that they couldn't escape no matter what.

'_She's almost here!'_

Starfire was now only a few inches away from Beast Boy's face. The sight or her purple boot made the hair on his neck stand up.

'_Please don't look under the bed, please don't let her look under the bed,'_

"Beast Boy! At last I have found you!" chirped the alien happily as she dragged out a green changeling like a shirt from underneath a tight spot. "Come for I will give you and our friends Cyborg and Robin a make the over!"

All three males were now weeping as Starfire carried them down the hall and around the corner to where they kept the T-car in the garage. The whole time Raven was silently shaking in laughter at the misfortune of her friends and she had been sure that Starfire had a camera and knew how to use it so she could take pictures of each outfit, look, or design that the boys had to wear.

Knowing Starfire, they were sure to be gone for the rest of the day.

_Finally some peace and quiet,_ Raven thought as she got her book and began to read again.

_Chapter 3…

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Crowds pushed past each other in what most considered there lucky day because the mall was having a huge surprise sale where anything was between twenty-five and fifty percent off. But for three teen heroes it was a nightmare come true.

Starfire had dragged all of them to the mall in the T-car to give them a make over. They had only been there for an hour and already their arms were loaded with shopping bags as Starfire went from one store to another so the boys could try on new things. Some of the outfits were okay for the record for the tameranian princess had a pretty good fashion sense, but that didn't mean she tended to get a little over excited.

They were all in 'Young and Hot' where Robin was in the middle of trying to convince Starfire that they had enough clothes.

He lost.

Cyborg was with the employee trying to get him into a jacket that was way too small for him. Beast Boy was bored out of his mind at looking over the colors they had. Either he chose one soon or Star would and that could take another thirty minutes than necessary.

"I'm telling you it's too small, wouldn't… it… be…better if you…gave me…a …bigger…size," suggested Cyborg as the tiny employee squeezed hard around his waste trying to button it up and each time cut off more and more of Cyborg's circulation.

"Nonsense!" she piped out with the stander million watt smile that all stores had to get you to buy something. "You don't need a larger size all you have to do is _suck…it…in!"_

With one final tug she got the buttons clipped together. "Whew, see that wasn't so bad," completely ignoring the fact that the Titan's face was turning blue from lack of ability to breath. "If you'll excuse me I have to go and check on another customer," before Cyborg could say anything she hurried away to where a group of girls were giggling.

"Dude, green is not your color," Beast Boy offered barely hiding his chuckles at his friend's misfortune. Cyborg just shot him the best glare he could but the fact that his face was now purple didn't make it as affective as he wanted. It just looked like he really wanted to go somewhere else.

Once Cyborg got the death trap off of him known as a 'size 8 jacket' he turned to the laughing Beast Boy, "Boy you better shut your mouth before I kick your butt!" he retorted. That got Beast Boy to shut up. Once he was come downed Cyborg said, "Man now I know why corsets were made illegal."

"I'll say, I thought I saw your metal bend under the pressure," agreed Beast Boy hoping to stay on Cyborg's good side for now. "So now what?"

"I don't know man," replied Cyborg glancing at the exit then back at Starfire and Robin, "But I am not sticking around, I can't take much more of this!"

Beast Boy didn't need to be told twice in a blink of an eye both two guys were out of the store and in the open mall. Ducking behind some plants to make sure Star hadn't noticed that two of her three captives were gone. She hadn't. The boys took that as a good sign and strolled down whistling looking another couple of guys who were just hanging out at the mall.

After they were a good thirty feet away they made a break for the food court. They weren't taking any chances that Starfire would be able to find them anytime soon. Panting they glance around the corner of their current hiding spot.

"Is she there?" Beast Boy whispered to scared to look.

A quick check, left, right, "Nope, all clear," said Cyborg happily.

"Yes! Hey you think Robin will be angry that we left him there all alone with Star?"

"Naw, Robin will be cool with it," Cyborg brushed the question away easily.

Beast Boy nodded back. "So what do you want to do?"

"I don't know," Cyborg's nose then caught the smell of cooked food at lunch hour and then heard the roar of his stomach. "On second thought I'm going to get something to eat." In a flash Cyborg was at one of the all you can eat buffets they had at the mall.

Beast Boy sighed. He wasn't hungry and there was no way he could go anywhere else since the mall was _packed _that day. Shoving his hands into his pockets he started to just wander around looking at random object. A bug, a shirt in a store's display, some gum on the floor, _hmmm what's this, _thought Beast Boy at he sight of a flyer with big bold print on the page that shot off the paper for some reason. Must be the glitter.

He began to read.

_Looking to get your friend involved with new people?_

'Yes'

_Are they boring and always keeping to themselves?_

'Yes'

_Then sign them up for an internet friendship with someone completely random. Just sign them up online and in a matter of seconds they'll get a brand new buddy to chat with!_

This was just too good to be true. Beast Boy couldn't believe the chance that had just been given to him as if sent by heaven itself. This was the perfect way to prank Raven all he had to do was make sure that Raven though that someone else did it. He kept reading.

_Just go to __a search engine and type in online friends. And give a little information about them and you're done!_

Beast Boy gave out a shout of glee that made several people stare at the green changeling. Clutching the paper he ran to the nearest computer café and typed in the website. In an instant the page came up on the screen.

'_Ok name, Raven.' _

_'Appearance, really pale, always where's dark colors, loner,' _

_'Age, 15,' _

_'Favorite animal, shadow dragons,' _

_'Favorite hobby, reading,' _

_'Interest, magic' _

Beast Boy clicked the done button and waited, the paper said that it took a few minutes sometimes to get another person connected. Beast Boy didn't have time to find out who had been the one chosen to be '_friends'_ with Raven before a rough hand pulled him aside hulling him out of the café by his collar in hurry. Beast Boy let out a yelp and looked up to see Cyborg running as fast as he could, weaving through the crowd to the store they had escaped from.

"Dude! What are you doing?"

"Saving your butt! I just got a call from Robin and he just told me that Starfire is looking for us!"

"Then what we waiting for lets go!" Beast Boy jumped ahead of Cyborg dragging him behind now as the green teen sprinted as fast as his skinny little legs could carry him.

They managed to slip back in without anybody noticing just in time too for a second longer and Starfire would have caught them sneaking back in. Panting they slid down onto one of the red, fake leather seats to catch their breaths. Robin was heading to where Cyborg and Beast Boy were sitting.

"Where were you guys," the Titan leader hissed angrily, so to speak, he didn't like being left stranded in a store with Starfire trying to get him to try on this and that. "You could have at least told me!"

"Sorry man we just… didn't think you would mind is all," Cyborg shrugged, "I brought you back some food through." He offered a white plastic bag as a sign of peace.

Robin peered inside, "It's half eaten," he said flatly.

"Hey I got hungry looking for BB over here," Cyborg defended pointing at the empty seat next to him. "Aw man, where'd he go now?"

The store was jammed with people but Beast Boy stuck out like a sore green thumb, it was always easy to find him even in animal mode because all someone had to do was look for a green animal. Robin spotted him by one of the computers on the side of the wall that allowed customers to purchase things online that haven't come in yet. "There." He pointed. Beast Boy was busy typing away unaware that Robin and Cyborg were right behind him.

"What are you doing Beast Boy?" Robin questioned his teammate.

Startled Beast Boy wheeled around quickly to cover up the screen, "Oh uh nothing!"

"Doesn't look like nothing," Cyborg raised his eyebrow suspiciously. "What are you up to BB?" he repeated, "Come on let us see." Cyborg lifted the changeling with ease so that he and Robin could see what their friend was up to. He ignored his friend's protests.

"No wait you guys!" Beast Boy pleaded, "It's not what you think!"

_"Online _Robin read out loud, "'_this website will allow you to sign up a friend or yourself and meet new people completely through the internet. You'll get to make new friends completely chosen by random and chat with them without ever seeing their faces. This program forbids any photographs for every May 1st there will be a convention where you or your friend will get to meet who've you've been chatting with all this time. You will be surprised on how much you have in common with a complete stranger.' _Uh Beast Boy why are you on this website anyway?"

"Yeah man, are you feeling lonely or something?" Cyborg's tone was heavy with concern for his little morphing friend. "I mean if you want to make new friends then-"

"No no no, it's not for me it's for Raven," explained Beat Boy. It took a moment before Robin and Cyborg had caught on to what Beast Boy had just said and when they did they responded in one word that said it all…

"_WHAT!!!!" _

_"Are you insane?" _

_"What were you thinking?" _

_"Raven's going to kill you!" _

_"And that's only if she is being nice!" _

_"Why did you do it?" _

_"How could you do it, do you know what's going to happen when Raven finds out about this?" _

_"Do you?" _

_"Man are you asking for an early funeral?" _

_"What hit you in the head so hard to make you think this was a good idea?" _

"Guys, guys relax ok I have it all figured out," Beast Boy reassured his friends, "You see I thought this would have been a great way to get Raven exposed to someone new that she won't have time to think about me." Seeing that his friends were now listening to his plan he continued. "I figure if we can get Starfire to break the news for her then that way Raven won't be mad at any of us for sure. It's full proof."

"There's just one thing," Cyborg said sweetly, "How the heck are we going to get Starfire to tell her?!"

"Leave that to me…"

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Five hours later the boys flopped onto the couch so exhausted that neither of them had the energy to go and get some ice for their legs and feet. Starfire, however, couldn't have been happier at the progress they had shown. And by progress she meant the number of stores they got to visit before the mall closed for the night, as illustrated by the mountain of shopping bags she carried into the living room.

Just then Raven entered the room with the book she had just now finished under her arm. Her face was home to a small grin of amusement at the sight that befell on her eyes when she entered. "So how'd it go?" she asked already knowing the answer from the moan that served as a reply from all three of them.

"It was wonderful!" shouted Starfire throwing her arms in the air as she flew around the room before landing next to Raven who was in the kitchen getting a soda and some ice for her fallen comrades. "Friend Raven I do wish you could have been with us this day at the glorious mall!" Raven smiled at her friend's happiness.

"Thanks but no thanks Star,"

The door bell rang a second later and since Raven didn't want to get it and the other Titans were too sore to even move their fingers, Starfire went to get it. She opened the door to find a teenage boy in some sort of costume of a cheetah with a hat on top that read 'Ready to Go!'

"Hello, can I assist you in any way?"

"Yeah I have a message here for a Raven," he sniffed uninterested. Starfire's face suddenly lit up like the sun.

"Oh yes of course I shall retrieve her right away!" a second later Starfire returned with her fellow Titan in tow right behind her. "Here she is!"

"Ah Star, what's going-"

"Congratulation Raven you are now part of an online friendship," interrupted the messenger eager to get this last delivery done so he could go home at last. Not noticing the look of pure shock on Raven's face he continued, "You'll get to meet someone new without ever meeting them in person, no photos are required all that this program asks is that you give another a chance to be your friend. Good luck with that…" with a sniff he turned around, got on his bike and peddled away.

"Surprise!" Starfire shouted, "It was a token of my friendship to you."

Raven was beyond mad but this was Starfire, no matter how naïve she may be she always meant well and only wanted to show Raven she cared. Still Raven couldn't help but think…

_'Couldn't she have just given me a card?'

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**Tada! So what do you think? Next chapter will be all about Danny and how he gets sucked into this program by his two best friends and sister. Please send in your reviews and I'll update my other stories. Again check out my profile for other story ideas I'm working on. Until next time! **


	2. Chapter 2

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_**You Understand**_

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"Okay so let me get this straight, you signed me up for an online chat… thing."

"Yep,"

"So now I have to 'chat' with someone who was chosen at random?"

"Pretty sweet huh?"

"Noo, I think it's the most stupidest thing I've ever heard!"

"Oh come on Danny," Tucker said holding back a laugh at his friend's reaction to this little 'surprise'. "You could use a bit more of a social life you know."

Danny glared daggers at Tucker who gulped nervously at the sight of green eyes instead of blue. "I don't need a social life Tucker, and you know why."

"You know… this might be a good idea." Sam added.

"Not you too!" Danny was sure that Sam would be on his side with this one. At least she didn't sign him up to do stupid things… usually.

"Think about it Danny, it's online so there's no way for the person to see or hear what you're doing and the flyer said that you're identity will be protected at all times. You'll use you're nickname instead." She explained, "That way there's no problem right?"

Danny thought about this for a second, she's right, he thought. It was all over the computer so the person he was chatting with wouldn't have any idea what was going on. For all he knew they could be on the other side of the world in Japan or something.

"Come on man, just give it a chance, who knows you may meet someone who's almost as cool as me." Danny rolled his eyes letting the techno-geek live in his own ego before bursting his bubble.

"Yeah, wouldn't want that." He said sarcastically.

Sam got up and put her hand on his shoulder, "Come on Danny give it a shot, Tucker's right…"

"Wait he is?" Danny asked confused. Sam never agreed or said Tucker is right, ever.

"I am?" Tucker asked just as confused as his best friend. "…I mean… I am!"

Sam rolled her eyes, "Yes you are Tuck, I mean… Tucker you have the computer club right? And I have the Skulk and Lurk, we both have people we can hangout with outside of just the three of us. Danny, like he said you need more of a social life."

"Gee thanks Sam, you're starting to sound like Jazz…" he muttered.

"Well, she may be right this time." Sam scolded.

"What do you mean this time?" they all jumped and looked to see Danny's older sister at the door.

"Geez Jazz don't you ever knock?" Danny said a little annoyed with his sister.

"I used to," she shrugged taking the vacant seat that Sam left, "but you never answered, this way is just easier. So what was it that I'm right about?"

Sam was about to tell her but Tucker beat her to the punch, "We signed Danny up for an online friendship!"

Jazz starred for a second in confusion before she got what they had just said, she glanced over at her brother who had his face buried in his hands before smiling like Christmas had come early, "That's great! Danny this is the perfect way for you to meet new people! I don't know why you haven't tried this before."

"Maybe because I didn't want to." He said with a bit of anger in his tone. Not because of the whole chat thing, ok he was mad at that too but mostly because they did this behind his back. "Guys, I know you mean well ad I know you're just trying to help but it's ok I don't nee-" he gasped mid-sentence and he knew what that meant when a blue mist escaped his mouth.

"Ghost time," Tucker clarified.

"Yeah, I'm Go' in Ghost!" he cried out. Two rings appeared around his torso traveling up and down transforming his street clothes into a black and white hazmat with an emblem of a p in a d in the center. His hair went from midnight black to snow white and his sapphire eyes to emerald. "I'll be back soon," he said as he phased through the ceiling and flew off towards the ghost.

When they were sure that he was gone Jazz, Sam, and Tucker dashed to his computer and opened up the website. Tucker was on in an instance, "Aha! Here we go," he moved aside to let the girls see. They leaned forward to read it, after a quick skim of the page they stepped back. "So am I a genius or am I a genius?" Tucker asked them smugly.

"I got to admit this actually seems like…like…" Sam couldn't exactly find the words to describe it so Jazz finished her sentence for her instead.

"Like a good thing for my brother…"

"What she said," Sam pointed at Jazz meekly.

"Hey, I wonder what kind of person their like?"

"Yeah?"

"Not to worry ladies," the girls starred at Tucker in confusion, "I signed Danny up yesterday so-"

"Then why did you wait until today to tell him?" Sam cut him off briefly crossing her arms.

"I didn't want to tell him until after the twelve hour waiting period." He explained, "You see you can pull out in the first twelve hour that you sign up but after that…"

"You can't pull out and you're stuck with it! And if someone has already been chosen for Danny he isn't the one to hurt their feeling and not respond so he'll have no choice!" Jazz exclaimed filling in the blanks.

"Exactly!" Tucker said triumphantly, "Here's the best part we can read some information about whose he's been signed up with."

Sam didn't like the sound of that since it sounded as if it was stolen or something, "Information?" she repeated.

Knowing what was coming next Tucker quickly added, "Take it easy Sam, its stuff like favorite color, food, what their personality is like and that sort of stuff so don't worry about it."

Sam still didn't look all that certain but relaxed a bit so that her friend could continue on with his explanation. Besides she was a little curious on what this person was like. Secretly she was hoping that it wasn't a girl… I mean someone who wasn't an evil two-faced lair.

"Ok so what's this person like Tuck?" She sat on Danny's bed listening as Tucker started to read off the information the website had sent Danny about his new 'online buddy'.

"It says here that their name is Raven and they like dark colors, is sort of a loner… Hey this sounds like you're new best friend Sam!" he teased ducking when the Goth threw a book at him that just so happened to be sitting on the night stand next to her.

Jazz stepped between the two when Sam got ready to throw something much heavier at the boy, she still hadn't chosen between the chair or the nightstand… "That's enough you two, and I don't think Danny would appreciate it if you trashed his room." She said dryly. Sam sank back glaring at Tucker with a look that he'll surely pay later where there weren't any witnesses around.

Tucker shrank under her glare making a mental note to stay away from Sam for the next few days until she calmed down a bit, otherwise he was on thin ice. She was probably going to do something to him that he was pretty sure was illegal in every country in the world or worse she might…

Jazz brought him back to reality when she said, "Well… aren't you going to read what else it says?"

"Oh, right…just a sec okay." He said a few clicks of the keyboard and he had something else, "It also says that they like dragons, reading, magic, and their fifteen years old…"

"Hmm, sounds like a decent person," Sam said nodding her head in approval.

Jazz's eyes skimmed the page, her eyes stopped on a small section near the bottom, "Hey, it even describes what the person looks like, lets see what it says… really pale, always where's dark colors, loner. Doesn't sound so bad…"

Tucker was about to say something but caught a look at the scathing look that Sam was shooting him and decided against it and closed his mouth. His luck was all used up for the year…and the year after that as well, any more and Tucker was sure to be in huge debt with Lady Luck. There were only so many times she could save his sorry butt, in one day…

"You two better be heading to see what's taking Danny so long," Jazz said getting up and exiting her little brother's room, stepping over the mess on the floor. She scowled when she nearly tripped over a pair of sneakers. "Why doesn't Danny ever clean his room?" she muttered irritated.

"Let's go Tucker,"

"But-"

"Now!" Sam roughly grabbed the collar of his shirt, ignoring his yelp. She dragged him out of the room, leaving the computer still on with the monitor blinking. It's glow bathed the room in a light tone of blue. Outside the buzz of cars could be heard and children hurrying home for dinner. The sky was starting to darken a bit and it was at this time that someone had just slipped into Danny's room unnoticed.

They looked around and like an experienced criminal mind quickly shut the door and window so that no one could see what was going on inside. The person only had one intention… collect information and that was it, walking over to the computer, they only had to find one small detail and that was it.

A smile crept onto their face in pure satisfaction as that their mission had proven to be beneficial after all… Reaching into a small pouch they pulled out a tiny black communicator.

"_I've found the location..."_

"_Very good," answered a voice on the other side. "Set the device in place and then return."_

"_Are you sure you don't vant me to just grav the boy now?"_

"_We must be careful this time other wise things will not go well."_

"_Very vell," _the person reached into a pocket and placed a tiny microchip on the computer where it wouldn't be noticed at all, _"It is in place."_

"_Excellent. Now we wait for them to make the next move…"_

The signal was cut and that was the cue meaning that their work was done, for now… One quick movement and everything was as it was before in the same position, in another the person was gone in a flash and moving fast far away to their next destination…

* * *

"I AM THE BOX GHOST!!!" cried a little blue man in overalls, work gloves and a cap on his head, "YOU CAN NOT DEFEAT ME NOW THAT I HAVE… BUBBLE WRAP!!!" the ghost laughed evilly, while a certain ghost boy just stood back looking bored. 

"Done yet?" he asked dryly.

"O but it is you who shall be done, for I am the BOW GHOST!!!" Several boxes were lifted up into the air by some unseen force. Instead of looking scarred or all that concerned really, the ghost boy just took out a metal thermos and released a bright light that engulfed the blue man. "NOOOO!!!!!" he yelled, "This can not be for I am the-" He was cut off as he was sucked into the container that was capped off by a white gloved hand.

"Most annoying ghost on the planet…" Danny finished for him. Placing the thermos in his ghost hunting backpack that held several small gadgets and ecto guns to help him when he was out hunting ghosts, or sometimes Sam and Tucker used them. Just then a blue mist escaped from his mouth. "Oh come on! Another one, don't these guys have something better to do?" he said exasperated.

It seemed that lately that as soon as one ghost was caught three more would take its place. Danny had already caught at least fifteen ghosts that days, which was an all new record for one day. Usually there was only five or six in one day, but fifteen! That was enough to tell Danny that something was definitely up for sure.

But for now he had to concentrate on the problem he had on his hand right now.

The latest ghost was somewhere on the other side of the city near the old woods on the edge of town. Slipping the metal thermos, that was now nearly full, into his ghost hunting backpack that held several small devices that he used to fight ghost. Like different ecto guns, an extra thermos, and other weapons.

Danny used them on a daily basis, but not that much and only when necessary, most of the time Tucker and Sam used them when he couldn't be there.

Taking off, once the pack once again slung on his back, at an average of ninety-five miles per hours, he was there in a mater of only a few minutes. Danny had been fighting ghosts for a year now to know that just a few minutes can be enough for a ghost to cause plenty of damage if it was smart and powerful enough.

When he got there Danny could see trees that had been completely up rooted from the ground or snapped in half, small craters covered the ground in some places. Danny flew down to get a closer look, he noticed that some of the trees had large claw marks and a few drops of ectoplasm.

It must be hurt, he thought, and from the looks of it, it couldn't have gotten very far.

Small booms echoed in the trees, Danny headed towards the sound of the noise and found a large, green, and familiar dog digging madly and whining trying to bite some kid of invisible foe. "Cujo?" Danny said surprised by the sight of the dog that he was sure he had gotten rid of.

Cujo stopped for a moment to look at Danny puzzled before coming at him full charge with a goofy smile on his face. Danny held up his hands to stop the dog, "NO CUJO!!!"

Too late, the ghost dog was already on top of him licking Danny's face and barking in happiness. "ACK! Down Cujo!" Once Danny got up he was covered in dog drool, he hastily wiped it off of him. Cujo had changed back into his puppy form which was something that Danny preferred better than the ghosts guard dog form.

Not noticing the way Danny was shooting the puppy dirty looks, it just flipped over onto its back begging to be petted. It took all of Danny's self-control not to smile on how cute Cujo look like that. But in the end the cuteness was too much and he gave the green puppy a belly rub making the dog yap happily.

Remembering why he was there, Danny bent down took watch the puppy as it ran around in circles trying to catch its tail in his mouth. "Okay boy, why are you here?" Danny asked. As if Cujo understood him, he started growling and yapping at something in the trees and started to chase it. "Hey! Wait up!" Danny called after the dog as it sped out of sight.

Cujo ran (or flew) through the forest with Danny in hot pursuit keeping a good distance behind the puppy but close enough to always have a good view of him. Dodging trees, bushes, and hanging branches, along with the occasional wild animal. The young hybrid soon found himself in some kind of dead end.

A cliff blocked off his path in front and surrounding trees that were so thick and old that they could have been centuries old blocked off the exits on his left and right, so it formed a horseshoe shape from a bird's eye view. Danny saw Cujo barking at something up in a tree, he flew over there and looked up to see a green kitten with black stripes on its back. Holding in its mouth was a pink squeaky toy that was all too familiar…

"That's it! Oh man, that stupid cat just took your toy?!" Danny said laughing. Cujo just barked as if confirming the truth. The cat jus hissed at the puppy, making the hair on its back stand up before it settled down to wash itself with the toy next to it as some kind of trophy. It just sat there purring and pretending that the barking puppy was nothing more than a pest and settled down for a nap using the toy for a pillow.

That got Cujo to bark even more at the cat, the whole time Danny was leaning against a tree in amusement. In a way it reminded him the way he and Jazz used to bicker when they were little kids…

He'd steal something of hers and hide it, and then she would chase after him yelling to give what ever he took back. Their parents always had to separate the two of them, well Maddie more than Jack. It was always fun and he still did sometimes and with his ghost powers it was now so much more fun and easier.

Danny was pulled out of his memories when he heard Cujo getting frantic and that could only mean one thing…

Sighing he flew to the tree to get the chew toy from the cat, "This is too easy," he said out loud to no one in particular. The kitten did not take well to being woken up in the middle of a good cat nap. At looked at him angrily, it yowled with hatred and transformed into a very large tiger. "Or not…"

* * *

"Friend Raven, there you are! I have been searching everywhere for you and I must know what your feelings are towards my gift to you!" 

"Uh… well…" the sorceress honestly didn't know how to tell her naïve friend that what she had just done was as stupid as cheating off Beast Boy's homework, if he had any hat is…

Starfire was the only other female in the group and the only one who Raven thought was the only one among her small group of friends who came the closest to understanding her. Since, the time creepy puppet man switched their bodies, the alien princess was like a sister. Or closer friends than her male teammates were…

Looking at the two girls, Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Robin were purple in the face from trying not to laugh out loud. Raven saw their expression and scold at them with a glare thrown in that could destroy an entire army and have even the bravest warriors shaking in their boots like scarred kittens.

Their laughter subsided a bit but they still looked like they were holding something in their mouths that they wanted to spit right out and if they didn't soon they'd explode. Raven turned her attention back to Starfire who was anxiously waiting her response.

"Well…."

"Lets just say that I have no words to describe it," she responded in a dry tone. That was honest enough right? And it didn't offend Star who beamed as if she had just won the lottery three times in a row.

Star threw her arms around Raven who looked a bit scarred since she wasn't used to just being hugged like that, even by Starfire! "I am so pleased that you appreciate my gift friend Raven! I shall now go off and do the unpacking of today's purchasing at the mall!" Starfire left the room practically dancing on the air.

She stuck out her had and added one last comment, "And to think I would not have discovered friend Raven's surprise if Beast Bo, Robin, and friend Cyborg had not found that piece of brightly tainted paper on the ground! I must go now and find suitable presents for each of them."

When she was gone it took Raven only three seconds to figure out what had given Starfire that stupid idea, she turned to face the male members of the team who were whistling nervously.

Robin was inspecting a spot on the floor, Beast Boy was pretending to swat an imaginary fly in the air, and Cyborg had suddenly become so interested with the time. "Well, looks like it's time to polish the T-car," he said hastily.

Robin also followed in pursuit, "And I have to do a little training."

Beast Boy joined in with them, "And I have to be…uh… somewhere else!"

They raced to the exit only to find it covered by black energy and sealing it-self shut, they tried the window but it was surrounded by a black force field, every possible way out was locked, jammed, stuck, and blocked… even the air vents. The lights flickered on an off and things that were loose started to rattle.

This could only mean one thing…

"He He so… how's it going?" Beast Boy chuckled lightly but his fear and nervousness gave it away.

"Boys," Raven started, her eyes were glowing now, "Let's have a little chat…"

* * *

**Tada! Chapter two stops here because I felt that this would be a good place to stop, that way you guys can have the pleasure of guessing what unspeakable horrors await the boys in the next chapter, then things will really pick up for sure. I want to say thanks to Ali Phantom for agreeing to be my beta-reader and also WingsofMorphius because she told me all about how the whole beta reader works. Don't you just hate and love me at the same time!**


	3. Chapter 3

**The original idea that I had was that I would update all of my stories at the same time but I just had another idea that instead each day I'll update one story until I've reached the end then start all over again and this time I'll update by picking them out of a hat or the oh ever so accurate method of iny miney mynie mo.**

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**Chapter 3**

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**_"NO! WAIT! I can explain!" _**Beast Boy cried out in fear in a desperate tone as he tried to plead to the angry sorceress in front of him.

Robin and Cyborg coward behind him using the green changeling and some sort of shield or barrier to keep them apart from Raven who's eyes were now glowing and glaring down on them with venom in them making the boys feel a chill in their bones.

"You have exactly three second to explain what you've just done before I send you to the darkest realm I can find for all eternity where you'll live out your worst fears _every, single, minute."_ she spat out making the boys flinch and tremble even more.

Raven was known to always keep good with her threats and most of the time she added it with interest as well. Something they did_ not _want to have to endure anytime soon.

"It was all his idea!" Cyborg confessed pushing BB to the front so that maybe he and Robin could be spared just a little mercy and in response to the betrayal of his _'friends' _BB shot them a glare for a second before looking back at Raven.

He gulped nervously as several things in the room started to float, move, fly, or twitch in their place. What caught his attention the most were the _really _sharp and blunt objects that stood by Raven like obedient little children surrounded by the magic that gave them life.

_"It was?" _Raven narrowed her eyes watching Beast Boy and the others like a hawk.

There wouldn't be any escape for what was coming to them...

Backing up until he was against the wall, Beast Boy held up his hands in a peaceful mode. "Come on Raven, I only did it for you. You know to be...uh, friend," he said meekly.

"And what kind of friend were you being when you signed me up for this?" she hissed angrily.

Beats Boy looked over to Robin and Cyborg pleading them to help him out. It was clear that they were to terrified to say anything at the moment and the longer Raven was focused on the changeling the longer that they'd stay alive.

Beast Boy was sweating bullets as he tried to come up with the right words that wouldn't trigger Raven's already miniscule short temper. "I just thought that you could use somebody to... uh... talk to..." he said lamely.

Raven calmed down a bit that her eyes weren't glowing anymore but the sharp and blunt objects still remained. "Why would you think that I need someone to talk to?" she asked curiously.

Sure she tended to spend a lot of time by herself and didn't socialize that much. Star was great and all but she was just too perky sometimes and could completely miss the point of a conversation despite the fact that the alien princess could recite the periodic table and name each element's atomic mass.

But that didn't mean that she was lonely, right...?

"I-I just thought it would be good for you if you could you know... meet someone new other than us."

Raven thought for a moment at what Beast Boy was implying before she shook it off surprised that she would even consider it. This was **_BEAST BOY!_** Most, if not all of his ideas always ended badly in some way or another. It was as if as soon as Beast Boy's mind started to think something stupid came out of his mouth. If he ever did say something smart it was probably by accident.

The boys relaxed a bit now seeing that Raven was less angry now. Picking up on what Beast Boy had said Cyborg joined in the conversation. "You know, _(and I can't believe I'm saying this) _BB here might have a point."

"I do?" Beast Boy looked questionably at Cyborg and Robin. Nudging him in the arm slightly with his elbow he caught on. "_Ow! _I mean... I do! Yeah, I mean... don't you get lonely being all alone all the time?"

Raven looked down at the floor deep in thought. Slowly she lost her concentration and everything settled down returning to its normal state. The windows and doors were uncovered so the light could be let in once more. Other than the room looking a bit messier than it first was, everything was back to normal.

It was Robin's turn now, "Maybe this could be good for you, who knows maybe you'll actually like this person." He offered.

Raven let out a sigh, "And if I don't?" she retorted.

"Then... uh... you can, uh..." Beast Boy scratched his head trying to find a suitable bargain that would fit Raven's needs and keep Beast Boy from having to breath through a metal tube. And that was only _if _he was lucky.

It was Cyborg who answered for him _(much to Beast Boy's displeasure to say the least) _"And if you don't you can always do what ever you want to BB here for as long as he lives..."

"And make him eat some of Starfire's cooking for a week." Robin added unable to resist.

Both Titans whistled innocently in tune together with innocent expressions ignoring the way that their friend in danger of the sorceress's wrath shot them a scathing look.

Raven thought this over and looked back to Beast Boy with a devilish smile as the images passed before her of _what _the possibilities were.

"Alright, I do it." She said at last.

For a slight second Beast Boy stared at her in awe before the look was replaced by a much more devious one. "Excellent now why don't you start right now!" he said cheerfully steering her to the computer.

As he loaded the page she couldn't help but be just a _little_ curious about the chat room.

But Raven had always preferred to have her books around to comfort her instead of spending hours in front of a blinking monitor slowly killing off her brain.

God only knows that BB had killed it a long, _long, **long **_time ago...

The boys looked over their team mate's shoulders as the page appeared ready to go. Starring silently as the fast typing soon allowed them to read the introduction.

Raven blinked at this and read out loud subconsciously, "Welcome, you have chosen to enter the vast world of internet chatting. This program was designed to allow different people to communicate with someone entirely new without having to reveal any part of their identities unless they choose to do so. At the end of the trial period you and your new friend will meet at a convention to see each other for the first time..."

Raven paused there raising an eyebrow narrowing her eyes at the changeling again making him squirm uncomfortably. "Hehe, why don't we just keep on reading?" starting off where she had left off he continued. "You would be surprised at what you can find out about others and yourself and may even wish to do it again-"

Cyborg cut him off there, "_Do it again?_" he repeated looking slightly amused. "Like Rae is the type of person who would actually want to do this sort of thing again?"

His chuckle died cold in his throat when he heard a sort of growl coming from Raven. That instantly meant to shut up.

Robin quickly scanned the page and addressed Raven, "Looks like this system is pretty safe unless someone actually bugged this thing so that they can locate each one who's participating and know who they are."

"Yeah and that's _before _they have to look through every single one of these connections just to find a specific one."

"So what you're saying is that this is pretty much safe?" Raven asked.

Cyborg nodded, "Yep. This is like have to find a needle in a hay stack the size of New York City. Only a computer genius can figure this stuff out without going completely crazy. Like me!" he gloated smiling to show all of his white teeth.

Rolling her eye Raven just went back to the website, "Are you sure this is safe?"

"Positive." he confirmed.

"Alright then... leave!" she pushed them all out of the now open doors to throw them out ignoring their protests. "I'm not going to have you three listening in on my conversations. Got it!" Turning around she left them with a rather unpleasant taste in their mouths of what was to come, "And by the way... I haven't forgotten and believe me you'll all pay and Beast boy, I _will _collect after this is all over no matter what."

Without another word she sealed the door shut locking everyone out and herself in. Making herself comfortable she breathed in deeply and clicked on the _'begin' _button.

_This person better be worth it._

* * *

By the time Danny had finally returned home it was past his curfew which meant that once again he had to endure yet another lecture from his parents about him being late again for the tenth time in a row. Also a round of endless questions from his mom about his state of being.

From his messier hair, to the large cuts on his shirt.

Dragging his body up the stairs he shed his shirt throwing it into a chair so that he could throw it away tomorrow, right now he was too tired. The now full thermos that held that cat thing from earlier, and several other rouge ghosts as well from that day, sat on top of his desk next to his computer for him to empty out into the Ghost Zone in the morning.

Cujo seemed to have dissapeared again once he had gotten his toy back.

_At least one of us is happy, _Danny thought as he kicked off his shoes and reached for the first aid kit under his bed so that he could tend to the injuries he had acquired that day. Taking out a cloth and a water bottle, he poured the liquid onto the cloth and began to quickly clean some of his lesser wounds.

Usually that was all that it took since they'd soon be gone in a few hours anyway.

Being a ghost hybrid did have its advantages allowing Danny to heal at a super human healing rate that would even make Superman jealous, so that no one even knew about the ghost hunting that he did.

But for the bigger things, like the three large claw marks that Cujo's evil nemesis had given Danny as a souvenir to remember it by, Danny applied a bit of natural herbal stuff on his abdominals to help the burning sensation and help heal it even quicker.

Tending to his wounds had given Danny a vast amount of herbal medicines since he wasn't sure how his body reacted to modern medicine and he wasn't in a hurry to find out any time soon. Especially after that one incident with something as simple as cough medicine.

Somehow Danny ended up breathing fire for a few seconds and managed to burn his bed sheets. Something that Tucker found hilarious to no end and even had pictures of the incident. Sam had scowled him for it but even she had to admit that the situation had been a _little_ funny.

After that they had decided that the best thing was for Danny to stick to the natural stuff. Sam liked the idea of using natural medical herbs to help her friend since it was better than that stuff made from animal parts like those fish pills and tiger bone powder that was sold in China.

He had to admit with her though, this stuff really did work and was pretty easy to find since it grew in nature he only had to go to the woods to find it or just go to the Chinese pharmacy in Elmerton only a few miles away from Amity to get what he needed.

Finishing wrapping the gashes, he put away the gauze and slid the kit back in its place. Standing up Danny was about to go to bed when he noticed his math book wide open with pieces of paper scattered around along with his history text next to it.

Sighing, Danny slightly cursed that he had forgotten about his history report and math homework that he still had to do for tomorrow if he wanted to avoid yet another after school detention.

Sitting at his desk Danny quickly skimmed over what he still had to do. After a few seconds of thought Danny took his history book and opened up to where he had left off. He was almost done and only needed to describe the different conflicts that contributed to the start of the Civil War.

_Good thing he had actually been there thanks to the help of the Ghost Zone and a magical map..._

He was able to finish it around midnight satisfied that he would at least get a B- on it. Math on the other hand wasn't exactly the teen's best subject to say the least. Sure he had a C in that class but it was hard to keep it at that for the hybrid.

Growling in frustration he shoved the book to one side and rested his head on his hands for a few seconds. God he was tired and he really wanted to go to sleep but he had to finish that stupid work.

"Maybe Sam could help me out," he said out loud to the empty room.

Danny yawned as he made his way to bed not bothering to climb under the covers and just fell dead asleep on the covers as soon as his face hit his pillow.

Finals were coming up soon and Danny had been putting in even more effort to try and study, along with every thing else, so that he wouldn't have to endure his whole summer in a class room of flunkies who would, without a doubt, put him through hell.

There for it equaled an even more stressed out Danny than usual. Despite the number of times that his friends had told him that he should take it easy and let them handle a few of the ghosts for a while.

Which he obviously refused to do. Danny would never let his friends take those kinds of risks if he could help it no matter how tired he would get or hurt.

He didn't even notice the figure that stood outside of his door as they opened the door just a tiny crack. Aqua eyes fell onto the sleeping boy and then to the small hint of the bandages on his stomach.

Little by little the door opened to reveal Jazz in a pink night gown tip toeing into her brother's room to check on him. Shaking her head but smiling she quickly stacked the books up neatly and covered up Danny's form with a blanket.

Pausing for a moment Jazz bent down brushing some of his bangs off and kissed him lightly on his forehead. "Night little brother," she whispered before stepping out the door and back to her own room.

Even though she was proud of her brother she couldn't help but be worried for him every time that she saw any sign of a wound on him. Danny was stubborn and hard headed always putting others before him despite the fact that he was sometimes too weak or wounded to continue he never gave up.

Jazz couldn't help but be afraid for him that he might one day never come home from a fight with a ghost. What might be worse would be if their parents found out that their youngest child and only son was found dead and they would have never found out the truth about him.

Danny had told her that he will tell them about his powers one day when it was time. Jazz respected his decision and agreed with him it was probably best for all of them if they waited first for the time to come when their parents would be able to take the news.

That they would accept him no matter what.

Now it was just a matter of when...

Getting into her own bed, Jazz glanced out the window at the stars entranced by their innocent beauty as they shined in the night over the sleeping town.

One star seemed to shine brighter than the rest but you had to look carefully in order to see it other wise it just look like the rest. In a way it reminded the oldest Fenton child of her brother.

How he was so unique and different from everyone else yet you could never tell that from one look at him. You'd have to pay close attention in order to see what laid beneath the exterior of a fifteen year old boy.

Smiling at her notions Jazz drifted off to sleep giving a small prayer that her brother could find some sort of peace of mind.

-------

Morning seemed to come much too fats for the half- ghost for as soon as he saw what time it was he shot out of bed gathering everything in one quick sweep. Shoving them into his backpack.

Rummaging through his closet he pulled out a clean shirt. Rushing as he tried to put on his shoes while hopping on one foot and put on his shirt ended up with Danny tripping over his feet and landing face down on the floor.

_"Danny?" _called out a voice from downstairs, _"Are you ok up there?" _

_"I'm fine mom," _he answered back.

_"Hurry up then sweetie the bus leaves in five minutes!" _

As he was heading out the door Danny smacked his forehead double tracking back for the spare and empty thermos he had in one of his drawers that was protected by a simple spell that if anyone other than himself, Sam, Tucker, or Jazz opened it all they would see or feel would be extra sheets of paper that were school notes.

Instead of profiles that held detailed maps of certain areas of the Ghost Zone and notes on it too. Sure Danny used his computer for that stuff but carrying around a simple notebook was a lot easier for his than a laptop.

Cursing that he still had to finish his math homework Danny thought it was better to finish it in homeroom if he could get there on time for once. Hopefully there wouldn't be any ghost attacks that morning and things would be able to go smoothly for once in his life since becoming half ghost.

Apparently some force in the universe had decided that Danny was the perfect subject to be given the gift of poor time management and math skills.

Danny ran down the stairs and bolted out the door quickly saying good-bye to his parents. _"ByemombyedadI'mofftoschoolloveyabye!"_

"Wait! Danny! You forgot your lunch!" Maddie cried out but it was too late. Her son was already down the block and out of hearing distance as he made his mad dash to get to school on time. Maddie smiled bit slightly chuckling at her son's rush.

Jazz was no problem in the morning, she was usually cheerful and in a good mood, ready and willing to begin a new day. Danny on the other hand needed a bucket of ice cold water just to get him out of bed.

She remembered that exact thing happening when Danny was only ten and Jack wanted to take his son out on a father/son fishing trip. Jazz would always laugh at the memory of her little brother drenched and shivering from head to toe at five am looking like a puppy who had just experienced their fist ever bath.

At that moment she heard a loud bang coming from the basement. Dashing downstairs she went to see what had happened and to help out her spouse in anything that she could.

-------

It seemed that Danny finally managed to get a small break for once. He had made it on time to school and has able to finish his math assignment in time for third period. The rest of the day passed almost normally.

With the exception of a couple of ecto-octopusses that were trashing the science lab and some weird blob thing that wrecked like Dash Baxter's gym socks.

Danny was just glad that it was only a class level 1 ghost and that the slime was washable from his hair and that he had an extra shirt in his locker.

All and all things were going smoothly that day.

When he got home he made his way up to his room in order to retrieve the full thermos and empty out its contents back into the Ghost Zone where they belonged.

He stopped short for a moment when he realized that his computer was blinking saying that he had received a message from the person he was supposed to have been paired up with for the whole 'chat' thing.

Not wanting to be rude Danny opened up the message to read it and send a short reply back. Each reply only took a few seconds in order to return to the other person so it was just like IM only that the person was someone you've never met and it could probably a thousand mile between the two on liners.

Clicking on it Danny read his message from a so called _Raven. _

**_Raven: is anybody there?_**

Danny typed an answer.

**_Ghost boy: yep_**

You could choose to go with your first name or by a pen name and for his Danny had chosen the one name that he heard so often on an hourly basis.

**_Raven: so anything interesting happening_**

**_Ghost boy: nope_**

For some reason Danny had the feeling that who ever he was talking to didn't want to do this as much as he didn't want to do this. Taking a one shot here he typed.

**_Ghost boy: just out of curiosity, do u even want 2 b talking online?_**

It took a few moments for Raven to write back and Danny had been afraid that he had insulted them for a second.

**_Raven: 2 tell u the truth i don't _**

**_Ghost boy: then y r u here?_**

**_Raven: friends_**

Danny couldn't help but grimaced at that. One word said it all. He knew exactly how this person felt.

**_Raven: how bout u?_**

**_Ghost boy: friends 2_**

**_Ghost boy: their great but can be a pain sometimes_**

**_Raven: got that right_**

**_Ghost boy: did they force u into this or did they just sign u up behind your back?_**

**_Raven: behind my back, but i thought to just try it out before passing judgment_**

**_Ghost boy: true_**

**_Raven: i'm so going to make them pay for this though_**

**_Ghost boy: sounds like fun, need any help? _**

**_Raven: no, i got that covered_**

**_Ghost boy: got any ideas to give me? a second opinion would be nice 2 have _**

**_Raven: sure but what did you have in mind first?_**

Danny thought for a moment before a twisted grin came onto his face with a devilish look in his eyes as several possible images passed through his mind. It was true that creativity ran in his family but his appears more in ways to get beck at people.

**_Ghost boy: i'm not sure yet but it's between decapitation or public humiliation_**

**_Raven: on what kind of scale 4 the humiliation?_**

**_Ghost boy: i was thinking global or interstellar if i can find a way to get the reception_**

**_Raven: nice, i like the way your mind works -_**

**_Ghost boy: thanks! it's nice to know that my creativity is appreciated by someone_**

**_Ghost boy: how bout u?_**

**_Raven: i'm going along the lines in the category 'fate worse than death'_**

**_Ghost boy: then feed them my sister's cooking_**

**_Raven: how is that a punishment... unless she's a really bad cook_**

He involuntarily shuddered at the memory of Jazz being in the kitchen trying to actually 'cook' something. It still gave him nightmares when he thought about the experience and now he was probably not going to get any sleep that night thanks to unwanted thoughts of _meatloaf. _

**_Ghost boy: you don't know how bad_**

**_Raven: it can't be that bad_**

**_Ghost boy: let's just say that the food was suppose to be meatloaf but when it came out it was purple and it was blinking at me _**

**_Raven: is that even possible?_**

**_Ghost boy: i'm not sure but i don't want to find out anytime soon_**

**_Raven: agreed but i still can't believe that they did this 2 me_**

**_Ghost boy: that's friends 4 u _**

A blue mist escaped his mouth indicating that a ghost was near.

**_Ghost boy: got 2 go _**

**_Raven: y?_**

**_Ghost boy: my sister_**

**_Raven: me 2 talk 2 u later then?_**

**_Ghost boy: sure_**

Danny was grateful for the internet at the moment that it was easier to lie to someone without them getting suspicious or revealing anything about his 'side job'.

Transforming into his ghost form and phasing through the ceiling of his room and flying towards where he had sensed the ghost. At the same time Raven was logging off and heading out the door with her team mates to go and face a robbery in the city.

Both unaware of the other's super hero identities.

* * *

**Ha see they did start chatting in this chapter and I kept my promise. It's not much but I was in a hurry and I can get a bit jittery sitting still for a long time without moving anyone of my muscles for a long time. Hope you all enjoyed this. Now to get to work on my other stories. Chow!**


	4. Chapter 4

**I'm going to start going crazy soon. I can't go on at my DA account at school because that website is blocked so I can cross out using the school scanners, my only hope now is my cousin's scanner when we visit (if she even lets me use it), or the library. School work is starting to pile up but the good news is that my family will be gone for a few hours so I finally get a chance to work in peace. **

**Sorry again for taking so long so here is what so many of you have been waiting for and to my reviewers thanks for the tips about the conversations between Raven and Danny. I hope it's better in this chapter.**

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**Chapter 4**

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Night time had fallen onto the city and the last of the sun had just set over the horizon. The street lights automatically came on as pedestrians hurried home and off the streets. No matter where you lived it has never a good idea to be out after dark on the open street, especially if you live in a city where strange things happens everyday.

Villains of all shapes of sizes pop out of no where and attack thinking that this is heir chance to finally to succeed only to be throttled once again and be thrown in jail.

_**BAM!!!!**_

A brief ball of fire exploded from a near by building blowing out the entire west side of the building to nothing but a pile of crumbling concrete and steel and smoke rose from the rumble.

As the smoke cleared away a blue man stepped out with a smug smile. The sounds of the alarm came blaring out as sirens wailed from afar getting closer and closer to the scene of the crime. But he didn't care as he laughed into the clear night air.

The police cars screeched to a stop and a swarm of authority figures piled out of the car taking the proper stances when dealing with criminals. All raised their weapons ready to fire if necessary and ready to ensure that who ever had the gall to rob a high security facility paid dearly with a tedious sentence to jail.

Unfortunately that's not what the perpetrators of the law had in mind.

"_Mumbo you are under arrest for grand theft and breaking and entering," _proclaimed a cop holding a megaphone,_ "Come out with your hands up!" _He demanded.

Mumbo just smiled and said, "Sorry but I have nothing up my selves," just then he pulled out a wand and waved it pointing straight toward the police, "Mumbo Jumbo!"

With that a series of confetti shot out of the tip and came to life swirling around into a miniature tornado of bright, festive colors directed straight at the cops. All that the men could do was pivot back and try to escape but their efforts were futile. Before any of them new what had happened they were all sucked into the vortex and then spit back out entangled in a tight embrace of confetti with the strength of steel wire.

As the police struggled and cried out in distress from their current situation, Mumbo casually stepped off the rumble and onto the side walk as if it were a stage and _he _was the main attraction in his sick twisted mind. "And now gentlemen, for my final trick I will-"

"…_Be landing yourself in a jail cell," _

Mumbo wheeled around to the source of the interruption in his so called performance to spot his all too familiar adversaries the Teen Titans. All in battle stances, with Robin at the front glaring down at the criminal with his cape billowing in the small breeze, behind him stood Cyborg with his cannon ready to fire at his will, Beast Boy more than happy to morph into any living creature in the planet in a second, and last but not least the female members floating in the air with their eyes, and hands glowing with power.

"Alright Mumbo," Robin said in a serious tone giving the magician a fair warning before they started the butt kicking action, "You can either put back what ever it was that you stole and come quietly or we can _make_ you come."

Mumbo just smirked and put a finger on his chin pretending to be in deep thought, "Hmmm, what to choose…. Oh I know!" he snapped his fingers and twirled his wand pointing at the Titans, "How about Mumbo Jumbo!"

A blast flew out of the tip causing the area where the teen heroes had just been standing to be engulfed by flames. The Titans dodged out of the way before the blast had even hit and were already going at the mad man.

"Titans Go!" Robin shouted in command to his team mates as he drew out his retractable staff and charged at Mumbo.

Robin swiped left then right then bent down to try to swipe Mumbo off his feet but he dodged every attack thrown by the boy wonder. Using his own wand to block the staff from ever coming into contact with his body smiling the whole time at Robin's seemingly futile efforts as Mumbo just blocked them with precision ease.

Before the leader knew it, his staff had been knocked out of his hands and sent yards away. Mumbo then, in one fluent motion, made his own wand come in contact with Robin's body sending the boy into the air and straight into Beast Boy.

The changeling had tried to sneak up from the side as a cheetah but was surprised to see his teammate fly straight into his as he lept. They both hit each other midair and gravity took its toll dragging the teens back to earth and landing in a daze while the remaining three continued to charge forward with the attack.

Starfire, with her hands blazing, sent an array of starbolts at the villain showing no mercy as she let go the rain or green bolts. 

Mumbo just stood his ground and twirled his wand in fast pace creating a shield effortlessly. He gave a fake yawn and looked up at the alien girl and mocked, "Really is that the best you Titans can do?"

"Not even close," countered Raven raising her hands to say the magic words, "Azara Metrino-"

"Mumbo Jumbo!" Mumbo cut her off sending a deck of cards at her.

Raven grunted as she found herself painfully pinned to a wall by the cards. Already in action she fazed through the wall and flew out of the wall glaring at the magician. Starfire flew up to him in an effort to punch him. He swung around grabbing her wrist with ease and spun around diverting Starfire's flight course toward the ground.

"Ha ha you missed," he stated.

Cyborg came up to him with his cannon about to fire, "Oh yeah! Take this!"

The half robot barely got close to Mumbo, "You know I think I prefer if you'd take _this_, Mumbo Jumbo," Mumbo swiped his hat off of his head and pointed the end of toward Cyborg. A boxing glove shot out punching a surprised Cyborg in the face. Cyborg stumbled back shaking off the pain only to be punch again before he had even had the chance to see it coming.

As the Titan fell back unconscious Raven took the opportunity of Mumbo's distraction to phase through the wall freeing herself of her current predicament. In a second a pool of black magic appeared on the pavement of the street and out of it came Raven then it vanished as soon as Raven feet exited out.

"You're going to regret that," she said with ire in her tone.

"Oh really," Mumbo taunted crossing his arms in front of him, "How?" he questioned.

"Like this!"

Mumbo gasped as Cyborg sent a blast from his cannon hitting him and cent him crashing into a lamp post with a metallic thud causing the mad man to see bright stars.

"Nobody knocks me out like that and gets away with it," Cyborg said triumphantly at finally getting to retaliate against Mumbo.

Robin came up behind his friend along with Beats Boy and Starfire who had recovered from Mumbo's attacks and were ready to take the criminal to jail. "Good Job Cyborg," he praised. "Now let's finish this, Titans Go!"

"I don't think so," said Mumbo slowly getting up.

The heroes tensed and got in defensive stances ready for what ever the blue man was about to throw at them. "It's over Mumbo," Robin narrowed his eyes and made sure his birdarang was right in his hands just in case.

"Not quite," Mumbo took out a couple of small, purple marbles out of the sleeve of his sleeve, "A magician always has something up his sleeve." He threw the marbles hard on the ground creating a loud bang and a puff of blue and purple.

The Titans started coughing from breathing in the gas until Raven quickly disposed of it with her magic.

"Thanks Rae," Beast Boy said with gratitude at being able to breathe without suffocating, then it hit him, "Hey where'd he go?"

Cyborg looked down at his scanner, "I can't pick up his reading's anywhere within the cities range,"

"So he got away," Beat Boy put it in clarified verse.

"Pretty much,"

"Awe, dude now we got to spend all day looking for him now," the morpher whined pitifully, "And I has so looking forward toward spending all day watching the new Ultimate Star Ship Commando marathon. They were going to show three hours of never before seen deleted scenes and reveal the true secret code to that unlock the secrets of the twelfth quadric's wormhole generator."

The other team members just rolled their eyes.

"You need to pick up a book," Raven said in her usual monotone way.

Wasting no time Robin got serious and started to examine where Mumbo had just vanished into thin air. Bending down to get a better look Robin took out a small container and a scraping knife and scraped a bit of dirt off the course street into the glass dish, then sealed it and tucked it safely into his pouch on his belt. He got up and turned to address his fellow Titans.

"Alright let's go take a look inside and see if there are any that can help us track Mumbo down faster. Cyborg and Beast Boy will look for any clues while Starfire Raven and I will see if anything was stolen." Robin commanded with sure authority in his voice. The Titans all nodded in agreement and went inside the building through the whole that Mumbo had created.

They split into two groups. Cyborg activated his scanners and started to look for anything that could be useful. Beast Boy morphed into a blood hound and started to sniff around on the ground for a scent. Robin and Starfire examined each of the glass cases to ensure that their contents were still inside safe and sound.

It didn't seem as if anything had been stolen to them but they couldn't be absolutely sure until they had looked everywhere.

While Robin and Starfire looked near the cases containing the more valuable items Raven took it upon herself to take in account of the objects that rested near the sides of the walls of lesser equity. Despite the whole scene looking as if Mumbo merely broke in for the kick of it Raven kept looking. She sighed and just as she was about to report that there was nothing missing she spotted an empty case out of the corner of her eyes. Gliding to a stop in front of the glass case where there was nothing but air inside and a lining of what used to be there on the cushioning.

She raised eyebrows and called her teammates over, "Hey guys," they all looked up from what they were doing and fixed their attention on her, "I think I found something."

They all hurried to where the sorceress was, "Friend Raven you have encountered some piece of information that can aide us in the tracking of Mumbo?" Starfire asked hopefully.

"I think I just found out what was stolen,"

"Well then what is it?" Beast Boy asked impatiently wanting to know.

Raven looked down at the information plaque, "According to this it looks like Mumbo took a talisman that dates back to ancient Egypt."

"So he took some piece of rock big deal," Beast Boy shrugged.

"It also says that this_ 'rock'_ has some ancient magical abilities," Cyborg added reading the plaque from over Raven's shoulder, "Apparently what it exactly does is unknown and that it was only a fragment of an unknown text."

"Uhh, in English," Beast Boy demanded so that he could be clued in on what was going on.

"It means that no one has any clue what this thing does only that it was part of something else," Cyborg rephrased for his friend's comprehension.

"But why would Mumbo want something that no one knows what it does or even what it's for?"

"Well what ever it is it can't be good," Robin stated, "Raven see if you can find out anything else about this talisman, Cyborg I need you to run some tests with me on this stuff I got off where Mumbo disappeared. Starfire see if you can find anything on what ever Mumbo took. Who knows maybe it might not be from this world , we can't take any chances." Robin instructed, "Beast Boy..."

"Yes!" Beast Boy perked up at hearing his name, "What do need me to do huh, interrogate any known associates, go on dangers patrols, secret undercover stuff?"

"Actually I want you to keep an eye on the scanner,"

Beast Boy's mouth dropped at that from disappointment, "Thats it? But that's like the most boring job ever!"

"Sorry Beast Boy but I need everyone else on something else and your the only one who's available. We need someone to keep an eye out for any trouble in case Mumbo comes back." The teen leader said in a very mature way.

Cyborg couldn't help but grin at the potential of a set up that was within reach, "Besides BB who else has the ability to sit on his butt all day watching t.v ?" Cyborg quipped.

Beast Boy just shot him a glare and responded, "Yeah well you-"

Robin interrupted him before the changeling got the opportunity to retort back, "Let's go on home and gets some rest, it's getting late and we'll need our energy for tomorrow."

"I'll bring the T-car around so we can stop by the drive through and pick up a pizza before heading on home," offered Cyborg.

Starfire's eyes lit up at the notion, "Oh yes! The earth food pizza sounds marvelous!"

"Bring on the veggies!" added Beast Boy punching the air and walking besides Cyborg and Starfire.

Robin smiled and followed shortly hearing his three friends argue about what type of pizza to get this time and who would get the last slice this time. He paused and back tracked a bit when realizing that Raven hadn't stepped away from the crime scene.

"You coming Raven?" he asked in a worried tone.

Raven nodded, "Yeah I'm fine," she reassured him, "Listen you guys go one ahead I'm just going to head on home."

"Are you sure?" He persisted on.

"I'm sure, I'm just going to get a head start on that research and see if I can find anything tonight,"

"Well if you're sure..."

"Don't worry I'll be fine," Raven turned to leave before she decided to say one more thing, "By the way..."

Robin stopped to face her, "Yes?"

"Save me a slice of pizza," Raven sad with one of her are small smiles.

Robin returned the gestured, "Sure thing, see you back home."

They both turned to leave. Raven phased out of the building and took off into the night above the lit streets and buildings while Robin hurried to catch up to the other Titans who were waiting in the car impatient with hunger.

The sorceress paused to see the familiar blue and white sports vehicle speed off in the opposite direction toward one of their favorite hangouts that never seemed to close. Sighing she continued on her way at a smooth, steady tempo allowing the night air to brush gently against her skin. This was one of those rare times when Raven could just have absolute peace with herself without interruptions from her friends or the alarm going off every hour on the hour to signify some loose villain terrorizing the city.

Her thoughts started to wander off about the person whom she had just met online. They hadn't sounded _so bad_. In fact they actually sounded pretty interesting and she didn't know why but Raven wanted to talk to them again.

_'They're probably not even on right now,' _she reasoned. After all, it was almost one in the morning and it seemed pretty weird and rude to talk to someone you've just met a couple of hours ago at this ungodly hour. _'How those guys manage to be so hyped so early is beyond me,' _Raven thought to herself thinking of her team mates and how just the smell of food is enough to send them running at full speed toward the source no matter what the time.

Well that was usually the case for Star, BB, and Cyborg. For Robin it was the alarm for an attack on the city. Raven was the only member of the team who found little or no motivation to wake-up in the morning before ten to say the least. Since most crimes happened during the afternoon and at night there was hardly a good reason to get out of the comforts of her bed and face the cruel mirth of day time hours.

As usual it was Beast Boy who had set the example of why it was **_not _**a wise choice to disturb the half-demoness's sleep.

The tower in the shape of a T that was known as 'home' to the girl, came into view and soon she was gliding over the water toward the island where the oddly shaped house stood upon. The water crashed gently against the faces of the stones surrounding them with foam as they retreated back to the ocean then came back again.

Raven landed on top of the building's roof. The walked to the door and headed downstairs. The lights were automatically on already so Raven didn't have any problem seeing in the dark hallway. Being all alone her footsteps echoed against the walls. Turning she walked down the familiar corridor and entered the first door on her left.

The door slide open on its own and Raven stepped inside seemingly grateful to be in the confides of her room. The only light came from the various black and dark colored candles all over the room. A large bookshelf took up half of one of the walls filled with books in various languages, artifacts and potions. Another wall was occupied by her vast bed that was located on the right to a large window with a nice view of the waterfront. To the left was a dresser and closet.

Everything had a Gothic appearance to it and that was just how Raven preferred it.

She went over to her small library and started pulling out any books that she had on ancient and magical items. When Raven was content with what she had she picked up the books and carried them to her bed setting them down. Getting in one of her favorite positions for reading of floating criss-cross over her bed by a few inches, Raven selected the first on top of the pile and opened the thick book to the first page.

-----------------

_"So you're sure that you're okay?"_

"Don't worry just a few minor bruises..."

_"Danny."_

"Okay so they're _big_ bruises but they'll be gone in a couple of hours I swear!" Danny reassured his sister hastily over the Fenton Phones 2.0 on his way back home from his routine night time patrol.

_"Are you sure?"_ Jazz Fenton asked still sounding unconvinced and worry evident in her tone, _"Because you know that-"_

"Jazz it's fine!" Danny interrupted her impatiently. He loved and respected his sister and all but there were times when she could be a bit of a nag. "Look I how about if I'm home in an hour tops," he compromised.

The was a brief silence while Jazz thought it over on the other end of the line then she finally gave her decision over to her little brother who was nervously waiting for her answer. _"Alright... But just one hour you got it."_

Danny breathed out in relief of not having to live through another _'health' _lecture from his sister. "Yeah I got it, see you in an hour."

_"Sure, bye Danny and take care you hear,"_

"Don't I always?"

Jazz laughed lightly over the small communicators, _"Just try to stay out of trouble this time,"_

Danny shook his head in exasperation from the request his sister had just asked from him as he cut off the line of communication between his older sibling. Even before he had gotten his powers that one little task alone was an impossible feat itself.

He turned himself invisible while descending to a lower elevation so her was only a few yards above the roof tops of neighborhood buildings all clustered together. It had been a slow night so far apart from the little adversities with a couple of loose behemoths. Nothing seemed to be causing trouble.

And who knew maybe this time Danny could actually _finish_ his homework before falling asleep tonight.

As Danny flew over the park a blast came from out of nowhere sending him down to the earth with a crash.

"Umph!" Danny rose up to his knees shaking his head slightly to clear away the stars he was seeing, "Where the heck did that come from?"

_"Haha! _See I told ya I'd get him with one shot," said a braggy and bratty sounding voice.

Danny looked up to see a bald kid in some sort of green pajamas? Goggles, with robotics spider legs coming out of a backpack on his back with he controlled with a video game controller. Next to him was a teenage girl in clothes that Sam would absolutely love and pink hair done up in a horn shapes. Coming right beside her was a large teenage boy that could have easily broken Dash in half, with long brown hair, and wearing a black, sleeveless suit.

The larger boy just snorted, "Yeah well you just got lucky that's all,"

"Luck had nothing to do with snot wiper," the green clad boy retorted with an evil grin.

The older boy growled and brought his fists up, "Listen you-!"

"Hey! Knock it off you two!" The girl intervened getting in between her comrades, "Focus okay, we can't screw up," she reminded them.

Both of them cooled off and didn't say another word.

"Hey, yeah sorry if I'm interrupting here," Danny said now standing up drawing attention to himself, "But who are you guys?"

The girl just smirked, "Oh sorry for being so rude," she apologized sarcastically, "My name is Jinx, this Gizmo, and Mammoth,"

The one named Gizmo grew impatient and complained out loud, "Enough with these stupid introductions lets just get him already."

"For once I agree," added Mammoth eagerly giving Danny a preditorial grin. Without warning he lunged forward. Luckily Danny was prepared for surprise attacks and easily dodged it leaving Mammoth slightly confused for a moment before he growled and charged again.

This time Danny dodged a punch and grabbed his wrist. Mammoth looked surprise and before he knew it a strange tingling feeling ran through his body. The half ghost took the opportunity of his opponent's surprise to flip him over, slamming him into the earth, then turned him tangible again leaving Mammoth chin deep in the ground.

"What the?!" he exclaimed then glowered up at Danny, "Why I'm going to teach you a lesson! Nobody pulls one over the Mammoth,"

"Uh I think I just did," Danny retorted.

Mammoth just snarled at looked at Jinx and Gizmo, "Hey a little help here,"

"But I thought you said that you can take down this Casper wanna be with both hands tied behind your back," Jinx mentioned innocently.

Gizmo laughed cruelly at Mammoth's fortune, "Yeah barf bag."

_"JUST GET ME OUT OF HERE!!!!"_ he roared.

Danny took the opportunity to try to escape unnoticed but he wasn't so lucky.

Jinx caught sight of him out of the corner of her eyes. Unlike the other two, she wasn't the type to get distracted so easily as she sent one of her destructive bad-luck energy wave catching Danny by surprise and causing him to crash painfully with the trunk of an oak tree.

"I don't think so," she said simply walking over to where he had collided. She stopped a few yards from where he was and put on hand on her hip, "You have something that we want."

"And what makes you think you're going to get it," Danny challenged, "Uh, just what exactly do you guys want?" he asked unable to suppress his curiosity. He had never even seen these guys before or even said a word to then until about five minutes ago. So what he could he possibly have that they would want. But then again, new ghosts attacked all the time, usually just showing up once or twice at most.

"Like were going to tell a little ghostie like you!" shouted Gizmo obnoxiously as he pulled Mammoth out.

Mammoth didn't look to happy at all though, "Ow! Cut that out your killing me here!"

"Stop being such a baby, it's just dirt,"

"Keep talking and you'll be buried under six feet of dirt,"

"I'd like to see you try,"

"Well then you'll have to look up then won't you,"

"Why you...!"

Jinx glanced over to the feuding boys and slapped her forehead out of impatience. _'I should have have just left these two back at the Hive Hangout,' _she thought dryly.

Danny was looking at the other two as well, "Great pair to work with aren't they," he commented sarcastically.

"Ugh, you have no idea but back to business,"

Danny barely managed to jump out of the way as Jinx's cat like eyes glowed pink and she sent him another wave of bad luck. As if he wasn't unlucky enough already.

The pink volt shot straight through obviating where Danny had just been only two seconds ago.

Of course he didn't have much time to think about it as Jinx sent ray after ray unmercifully causing mass destruction in her wake. She smiled very cat like as she watched him dodge every thing she threw at him. "Hm, not bad, but can you handle _this_,"

A large ball of energy gathered in her hands growing brighter and when she was satisfied, threw it at our teen ghost, hard and fast. This one he couldn't dodge quick enough as it hit him full on. He flew back several yards and in pain when he met contact with the earth.

Danny groaned in pain as he tried to get up. Rising first to his knees then to a somewhat crouching position using a tree nearby as leverage to help steady him. His vision was swimming from the blow he had gotten on his head when he fell on the ground and for a second he was seeing three Jinxs walking toward him.

"You know I thought that you'd be more of a challenge," she said in a bored tone, "But I guess I was wrong," she shrugged getting another energy volt ready.

Thinking fast Danny phased through the ground leaving a bewildered girl behind. "What!" Jinx narrowed her eyebrows and triwled around looking for Danny. "Where'd he go? Gizmo!" she called out to the boys who were far behind.

"What!"

"See if you can find a way to track him," she ordered impatiently.

"And how the heck can I do that and besides you're not the boss of me,"

"Just do it!" she snapped sending a stray energy bolt him way scaring the munchkin into submission.

"Alright, alright!" Gizmo held his arms in front of him as a sign of submission. He started mumbling profanities under his breath as he started to fiddle around with his control. His goggles slid forward and the lenses became mini screens for his use. A bit more button pressing and soon a whole ware house of data started flashing by that a typical person would have instantly gone mad had they tried to read all the charts and numbers appearing. But Gizmo was not typical, he could easily follow along the data presented to him at that speed.

Not finding anything on inferred mode he switched to energy surveillance. A new type of programming he had just installed that allowed him to read off anyon'e energy signals.

Looking around he could see his team mates energy with Jinx being the highest and Mammoth having the same amount as twelve men. _'It's like this guy just disappeared into thin air or something,' _Gizmo said in his mind frustrated with the lack of result his super computer like scanner was presenting him with. All he could see were the typical things you'd see in a park at night.

A bunch of stupid owls and mice and a bat or two, a stray cat or dog here and there, and some sort of green glow-

_'Wait a minute!' _Gizmo focused on where he had seen the glow and zoomed in and sure enough he saw the out line of a teenage kid. "Gotcha," he whispered before he said louder for his team mates to hear, "He's over there," he pointed north toward the center of the park, "Quick hurry and get him before he gets away!"

Jinx were already moving fast and Mammoth was charging ahead at full speed eager to get back at his prey for making him know what it's like to have dirt in some very unusual places in his body.

Danny turned just in time to see all three of them come after him. _'Oh man!' _Danny had been sure that these goons had been too distracted to notice that he was gone. He just wanted to get out of there and get home as quick as possible but it didn't seem that that was the case here. These guys are persistent.

_'Especially that Jinx girl,' _Danny observed, _'If I want to get rid of them then I'll have to take her down first then the other two.'_

Getting in fighting stance, Danny watched their movements in slow motion as Jinx again sent her bad luck waves at his slicing through the fountain like a hot knife through butter. Water squirted through the sliced pipes in waterfalls. Danny just smirked, even though she didn't know it, Jinx had just helped set up a trap for themselves.

Jinx had noticed the small feature on his face and scolded, "What are you smile about when you're just about to get your butt kick. You're out numbered three to one and out classed. It just be best if you just give up now. It'll be less painful for you that way." The villianess said in a no-nonsense sort of way with authority that seemed to suit her well. "All we need is just a sample and we can either do this the _easy way_," she said in a sugar coated tone that made Danny feel sick to his stomach, then in an instant switched over to a more sinister voice with her eyes glowing to emphasis her point, "or the _hard way_."

"Um how about we do this the you guys surrender now way and nobody gets hurt, mainly you." The white-haired teen answered back cheekily.

That just about did it for Gizmo's short temper, _"Aaarggghhh!!!! And why don't you just shut your trap!"_

"And why don't you just _chill!" _Danny place his hands on the ground sending a cold shock wave through the ground and toward where the three goons were standing in a puddle of water from the fountain Jinx had sliced in half.

It traveled fast, rising first to the Hive Five member's ankles, then to their knee caps, thighs, and their torsos.

"That ought to hold you guys till morning," Danny commented about to leave. When a Gizmo sent out a command for several blades to go after Danny through chattering teeth and blue fingers.

Gizmo managed to chatter out, "I-I-I-I d-d-d-dont t-t-think s-s-s-s-s-o-o,"

A giant saw came out of the backpack and started to cut away through the thick ice and in a just a few seconds he was free. Jinx also freed herself by using her energy rays, Mammoth just used his muscles to shatter the ice into pieces.

"Heh, is that the best you can do you little runt," Mammoth jeered.

"Not even close," Danny's hands lit up with ecto energy ready to fire with a thought to counter Jinx's own rays.

Jinx shot first then Danny, the two bolts met each other in midair causing an explosion and smoke. Mammoth used the smoke as a cloak to sneak up on Danny punching the fifteen-year-old hard and sending him rearing back. Then came Gizmo seconds after and with his control and had his spider like legs shoot out like spears.

Barely managing to dodge them, Danny fired volleys of ecto energy at the Hive members. Jinx easily dodged them by cartwheeling and using her flexibility to get away. The Mammoth wasn't so versatile and got hit by a couple of powerful ones. Danny didn't miss the way the largest member of the assault fumbled slightly on his right foot. Seizing the opportunity of a weakness, he shot a carefully aimed electrical shock at Mammoth's leg muscle.

Mammoth roared in pain as an electrical jolt ran through his shin causing him to tumble down paralyzed.

Gizmo looked back at his defeat for a second before he got over it and continued to attack with his legs. As he kept missing, the little guy grew angrier by the second, "Hold still!"

Danny rolled his eyes at the comment, how many times had he heard that before, "Sorry, wish I could but I can't,"

"Well then lets see if this will," Gizmo activated a squitgun looking gadget and shot it at Danny as he was taking off in the air for an aerial attack but was surprised to find something keeping him rooted to the ground and unable to move. He looked down to see a gooey, green, glue on his left foot. No matter how hard he tugged he couldn't break free. "Haha, like it dirt face?" Gizmo mocked enjoying the ghost-boy's struggles, "I'd quite if I were you, that stuff is stronger than concrete there's no way you'll break out of that."

"What to bet," Danny replied. Focusing, he channeled his ice powers to his leg freezing the goo. With on quick kick he was free.

Gizmo's face adopted a shocked look with his mouth wide open and eyes bugged out at seeing Danny escape his gooey restraint.

The halfa smirked seeing the look on the brat's face, "If you liked that, really going to love this."

Jinx instantly came to Gizmo's rescue in time, _"I don't think so!"_ she sent a destructive beam forcing Danny to dodge and and for the ball of green energy to disperse.

Danny gasped and got out of the way in time but had to retreat a bit backward so that there was now a decent length of space between the rivals. Mammoth got up and limped over to the others as best as he could.

"Hurry up will you," scolded Jinx. "Jeeze your so slow." She added once he was close enough that she could talk at a normal tone but not have the ghost boy over hear much.

"Oh shut up Jinx," he grunted unhappily, "This guy is tougher than he looks okay,"

"I know," she said quietly with an unreadable as she tried to think of a way to beat the ghost in front of them who was watching them like a hawk and seemingly waiting for them to attack before he makes his move. _'This guys is tough and knows how to fight. He doesn't seem to be tiring or even slowing down one bit, even against the three of us.' _Jinx looked over to the other two quickly scanning their physical status so far from the battle. _'Mammoth's leg looks pretty bad and I don't think he's fully recovered yet from what ever he was hit with and Gizmo's temper is making him lose his concentration making him an easier target. And as for me... I can barely keep up with this guy. He moves way too fast and has more power than I first thought. If this doens't end soon we'll have to retreat." _Jinx thought the last part bitterly quickly accessing a plan.

"Alright then, looks like it's time to start getting serious here."

Danny tensed and prepared himself for the worst. What ever it was that they were planning, he didn't like the sound of it.

"You know I wasn't sure if we were going to need this..." Jinx said in a chatty tone, "But in your case I'm willing to make an exception."

Before Danny could question on what she was talking about she pulled out a familiar looking device out of her pocket.

"Hey that's-" he managed to blurt out.

"Think fast," in rapid succession, Jinx tossed the metal marble toward Danny instantly activating them. In a few nano-seconds a couple of them transformed into small blades and the others into green glowing nets.

Danny took off into the air maneuvering between trees and other obstacles to evade the blades and nets that were hot on his trial and gaining. He got rid of the blades easily by making them hit trees but the nets were a different story.

They turned where ever he turned and in the same way. If something was in front of them they went around and quickly returned to his heels. Nothing seemed to be shaking them off.

Then they just receded back out of nowhere. Danny paused to look back to see why they weren't following him when a net came out of nowhere and slammed him to the trunk of a large tree pinned to it and trapped like a fly on a extra sticky spider web. He could barely move and the net was constricting his body a bit and painfully forcing it to rub his back against the coarse tree bark.

Jinx walked over to him with a cattish smile playing at her lips, "Looks like you got yourself in quite the mess now."

Gizmo and Mammoth walked and stopped beside Jinx grinning like idiots.

"Haha looks like Casper got himself caught!" laughed Gizmo in his cruel humor.

Mammoth joined in and then an idea and hopeful look flashed across his face, "Oh oh, Jinx can I please try it out huh? Please!" he begged eagerly. What ever it was that Mammoth wanted, Danny was willing to bet it involved him in pain or something just as bad.

Jinx looked thoughtful for a while before giving the teen an answer, "Alright, but remember, " she warned severely, "We need him alive so nothing that can kill him."

_"How's he going to kill him if he's already dead," _muttered Gizmo under his breath.

"Yes!!!" Mammoth pulled out a remote control and pressed a red button on it.

The trapped ghost hybrid let out a cry of pain as watts of electricity surged through his body making his muscles tighten painfully then it stopped leaving the ghost panting and sweat dripping down his face.

"That's enough let's get what we came here for and leave," Jinx commanded wanting to leave before someone saw them.

Mammoth's and Gizmo's face fell at the notion. They were having way to much fun torturing the guy who had given them difficulties.

"Awe come on Jinx," pleaded Gizmo with a sadistic grin, "Let's at least make this guy want to run home crying to mommy,"

That gave Danny an idea.

He took in a big breath and then unleashed his ghostly wail.

The other three teens let out screams as they flew back and tried to cover their ears. The earth beneath them quaked and it seemed that it would never end when silence finally came.

Jinx looked up to the net had been completely shredded to tiny fragments and there was no white haired teen in sight.

She faced her team mates who were also looking at where they had just had their captive trapped and at their mercy. She voiced the one thought running across their minds.

"The guys back at head quarters are_ not_ going to be happy about this..."

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**It's a long and good sized chapter don't you think? Didn't take nearly as long as MB and out of request the next story I'll be doing will be _Fairytales Come True._ I hope you've all enjoyed this and once again I'm really sorry it took so long. Also for those of you who want to help impoverish countries in need of food there's a link on my profile called** **some of the details are on my profile but most of them are on the website it tells you everything there. Send in reviews so I know what you all think of this chapter. There might have not been much chatting between Raven and Danny but there was definitely some good action. **

**A special shout out to Sweetsixteen19. Don't worry I promise that FCT will be the next one up. Thanks for reminding me that I have to get that one up. Sorry again for lack of updates. And sorry if this chapter has some spelling or grammer issues but for some reason my computer won't let me copy and send to my beta-reader. So instead of sitting here doing nothing while I try to fix this stupid problem I thought why not give this to you all right now. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Well… I know you all have been anticipating this for a really long time and I can't believe it's been over half a year since I've updated (sweat drops) sorry about that**

**Well… I know you all have been anticipating this for a really long time and I can't believe it's been over half a year since I've updated (sweat drops) sorry about that. By the way here's something really funny that my friend told me apparently FINALS stands for Fk I Never Actually Learned this St. I don't exactly know where the 'this' fits in but it sure is funny and appropriate considering what time of the school year it is.**

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**Chapter 5**

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"…_So you've never seen these guys before?" _

"No," Danny responded over his cell phone, "That's not even half of it, they were all human but they could all do things that regular human can't." He paused to take a sip of the soda in his hand, "So any ideas as to who they could be Sam?" After getting back home Danny's phone had rang and he had let the whole story spill to Sam.

"_They do sound sort of familiar but…" _there was a short pause on the other line and Danny knew that the Goth was trying to sort through her memories, _"I really don't know, why don't we get Tucker to do some research on who these three could be. That'll help us out a way to deal with them. Judging by what you told me a few minutes ago these guys sound dangerous." _

"Yeah no kidding," Danny grumbled wincing as he looked at his newly bandaged wrist and leg. Thanks to being half-ghost he had a much faster healing rate and could get out of a battle with only a few injuries so no one would ever suspect them being other than beatings from bullies at school. That didn't make them any less painful though.

The fight with the mysterious teens had given him a new array of bruises, a few cuts here and there that had, thankfully, stopped bleeding by the time he had gotten into his room in order to avoid being interrogated by his parents or worse Jazz, and just a slightly sprained wrist from where the net had slammed and pinned him hard against the tree.

"They wanted something that had to do with me but I just don't know what," Danny added.

"_I don't know what they're after but it seems as if ghosts attack no matter if you have something they want or not," _Sam replied.

"Yup cause I'm just the Ghost Zone's and Caper High's favorite punching bag to relieve stress on." Danny muttered sarcastically, and then in a more cheerful tone he said. "All you have to do is make sure I don't beat you up and send your sorry butt back into the Ghost Zone!"

"_Danny come on, can't you be serious for longer than your attention span lasts?" _Sam sighed but grinning all the same. It was fun to poke at the ghost boy's most noticeable faults.

"Oh come on Sam I'm just having a little fun," Danny chuckled spinning around in his chair, "Besides I… hey! Wait a minute_! What's that suppose to mean?!" _He said sounding insulted, stopping abruptly from spinning in his chair to glare at the phone. He could even swear that he heard and could just see Sam smiling and trying to hold back her laughter.

"_Oh nothing…" _Sam replied innocently on the other end. Danny didn't buy for a minute and was willing to bet that she was smirking, _"Anyways it's getting late and I still have some homework to do. I'll call Tucker and tell him to come meet us at your place tomorrow."_

"Alright then, it's a good thing that my parents aren't going to be here tomorrow," Danny sighed relieved that he would be able to use his powers freely in his house without his parents rushing into the room yelling out different ways to torture him. "See-ya Sam,"

"_Bye Danny and try to stay alive tonight,"_

"I'll try,"

Danny heard the click when Sam hung up and the line went dead. Yawning Danny put his cell phone on his night stand and headed towards his computer. He still had to finish an assignment for Lancer for once and not have to deal with another lecture on _'responsibility'_. It wasn't his fault that ghosts tended to attack randomly and at all times of the day with no consideration on how his grades were affected. It'd be nice if once in a while Danny could actually do his homework like every other normal human teenager.

Then again Danny Fenton isn't normal…nor is he even full human for that matter.

It was a real shame that ghosts couldn't just learn their lesson the first time but needed repeated beatings from a certain ghostly powered teen in order to finally get the message that it was pointless to come into the human world daily to cause trouble. The least they could do, in Tucker's opinion, was come up with at least a decent challenge for the ghost boy to fight against.

It was pretty late as Danny let out another yawn. "I guess I'll finish this tomorrow then," Danny said. He pulled of his clothes and got his pajamas from his draw and put them on. Glancing at the clock he couldn't help but wince at how late it was. Best to go to sleep now in order avoid having to fall asleep in class yet again.

Danny smiled at how good his bed felt right now as his eyes grew heavy and drowsiness soon took over as he drifted into a peaceful s...l…e…e…p…

_**BBBBRRRRIIIINNNNGGGGG!!**_

"AAAHHH!!" Danny jumped out of bed so fast that he ended up getting tangled up in his sheets and tumbling head first to the ground, landing with a thump as he struggled to free himself from the death trap like sheets in order to get to his phone and shut it off before his parents woke up.

Panicked he snatched the phone off the night stand where he had left it and flipped it open_. "This had better be important!" _he hissed.

"_Danny this is important," _Danny instantly identified the voice as the one of his techno-geek best fried.

Yawning and trying to rub the sleep from his eyes he stood up with the phone at his ear, "Do you have any idea what time it is?" the sleep deprived hybrid asked irritated.

Tucker took in no account of his friend's current tone and irritation, _"There's something going on as the museum that you need to checkout there's—" _

"_**GHOST!!" **_

Danny looked towards his door as he heard his parents scrambling to get as many weapons possible, "Let me guess… ghost problem?" he muttered sarcastically.

"_Yeah…how'd you know?" _Tucker asked a bit confused. Could his friend really sense ghosts from that far away? He thought.

"_**Maddie quick get the Fenton RV saddled up, there's a ghost attack down at the museum! We'll catch that ghost kid yet!" **_Danny heard his father shout.

"Call it a lucky guess…"

"_Do you want me to fill you in on the details?" _

"Nah…" Danny said as two twin white rings circled his body and encased him to transform his pajamas into his ghost hunting clothes of a black and white hazmat with a white emblem on his chest. "Something tells me I'm going to find out soon enough."

"_Alright be careful though dude,"_ Tucker warned, _"From what I'm picking up on these police reports this guy sounds dangerous."_

"Anybody we know," Danny asked.

"_Nope, better be on high guard then."_

"Don't worry Tuck I'll be fine," he reassured his friend, "Call Sam and fill her in on what's going on."

"_Will do,"_

Danny tucked his phone safely into one of the pockets that line the inside of his belt and quickly snatched a pair of the Fenton phones 2.0 off his dresser and shot through the ceiling turning intangible to avoid leaving holes that may leave questions behind that his parents were sure to demand answers to. Flying quickly towards where he could see a faint line of smoke and thanks to his acute senses he heard the whirl of sirens racing to the scene of the crime a bit father behind him. Meaning he would be able to get there a few minutes ahead of the cop and his parents which would, hopefully, be enough time to bag the ghost and leave before the authorities or worse his parents came into the picture with guns blazing.

Along with his father's crazy driving… He was_** extremely**_thankful for his powers or he'd have to put up with Jack Fenton's maniac like driving style for another year when he could finally get his driver's license.

The cold night air whipped past the young hybrid as the citizens of the town that he defended from the restless spirits of the dead were all resting peacefully on this clear night. Even though he was on his way to a fight Danny couldn't help but notice what a nice night it was for flying. For a moment he just flew with his eyes closed and relished in the rush of joy that flying usually gave him.

Danny shook himself from his daydreaming, his features becoming serious as he focused on the alarms going off disturbing the peaceful silence of the night. His luminous green eyes centered in at a hole in the side of the building as he descended down and flew through the hole. He found himself in the medieval exhibit part of the building. A quick scan revealed that nothing was missing here.

"That's weird…" Danny said to himself confused, "I don't sense a ghost here but there's definitely some weird energy here." He pulled on the Fenton Phones 2.0 and pushed a small black button to the side. A green transparent screen covered his eyes and Danny started to scan the area.

Since he specialized in ghosts it was easy to trace their energies and distinguish them, but Danny still had a bit of trouble with other types of energies in sensing them and narrowing them. Normally he wouldn't need it but the museum was huge and took up most of the city block. So instead of searching every room, which would be a waste of time and give the croaks a chance to escape with the goods, the Fenton Phones would lead him straight to the culprit.

The Fenton Phones 2.0 served for more than a way to communicate with his friends hands free so he could battle better, he and Tucker had improved them by adding a few new features and one of them included a built in tracker that would allow him to see any abnormalities that didn't belong to any spiritual entities… like magic and what couldn't even be seen by his eyes.

The screen showed everything as it should be except for trace of blue on the edges of the hole that was no doubt, the energy of the intruder. Smiling at have located it Danny silently moved like a shadow following the traces of the blue light past the displays of ancient artifacts from the American Revolution and the Ming Dynasty, past old swords, shields, suits or armor, and displays of models that demonstrated the lifestyles and wardrobe of each individual exhibit portrayed to the public as realistic and historically accurate as possible.

Danny was so inclined to follow the trial that he didn't notice the stone pillar in front of him until…

**WHAM!**

Face first he hit, and boy did he hit hard.

Danny floated there holding his face and bit his tongue from crying out loud in order to still manage to maintain the element of surprise on his opponent… along with some of his pride. Shaking it off, he continued on silently only this time being more aware of his environment. The trail became strong enough that Danny was able to sense it on his own, he pushed a button on the side and the transparent green screen dissolved away.

Turning invisible Danny decided to take a short cut and pass through a wall which led him to the Egyptian exhibit of the building. Last time he was here it was on a field trip that ended up unleashing an ancient mummy ghost and sending the whole ninth grade to ancient Egyptian times to be servants of a hypnotized Tucker.

Apparently they had redecorated a bit from the last time he was there. There was no longer the mess of sand that was there from his fight with Hotep-Ra and all of the old broken cases had been replaced and upgraded with better security that could now stand a better chance against ghosts.

Lately the city and many businesses had been upgrading in order to have better security that could ward off ghosts, ranging from talismans, natural herbs, to the latest in ghost hunting technology designed by his parents, the GIW, or DALV. Many owners were getting tired of having merchandise stolen by beings that were invisible and could phase through solid objects.

It was just not good for business.

Of course Danny was interested in only one thing and one thing only, and that was the strange figure in a tuxedo, cape, and tope hat leaning over a case inspecting it carefully with one hand holding his chin and humming to them self as if they were at a local grocery store trying to decide wheat or rye bread. They would have looked like one of the wealthier classes who were truly interested in ancient objects if it weren't for the fact that it was the dead of night and they had blue skin.

Danny stiffened and watched as to what this strange man would do next. If it were a ghost Danny would have already shown himself and confronted the spirit head on and straight to the point. Even normal criminals that came up once in awhile Danny would have just easily bound them and left them unconscious and bound in a gooey ectoplasm that was stronger than super glue until the cops arrived.

But this guy was up to something and it was best for Danny to just observe and see what he was after. It seemed to Danny that if he was just a regular criminal then this strange guy would have just gone straight to the valuable jewels and artifacts in the first few exhibits then bail as fast as possible. Especially considering the way he had busted in through the wall, almost like he wanted the cops to come.

At last the mystery guy stood straight and Danny stiffened, _'Looks like he knows what his purchase is going to be, too bad that it's not for sale.' _He thought as he flew in closer but stayed far away enough so that the blue man wouldn't be able to sense his ghostly form. It wasn't his ectoplasm signature that the ghost boy was worried about that would give his presence away. If this guy could sense energies he would had sensed Danny's the moment he had come into the room, but it was more the coldness that radiated from him like it did every other ghost.

The man took out a magician's wand that Danny had seen a dozen times that magicians used on the television and at local costume stores. What the man did next just took the ghostly teen back making him hold back a gasp to keep himself from being discovered. With a wave he had pointed the stick at the case in front of him and Danny could have sworn he heard the guy say _'Mumbo Jumbo'._

With a puff of blue smoke the case had completely disappeared and had turned into doves that flew away with some settling on the high perches of the room and others flew out the exits, no doubt looking for a way out to the environment outside.

Then casually he walked towards the now newly exposed object inside like he owned it. Now was the time to act. Danny narrowed his eyes and shot a small ecto ray at the guy to knock out what ever it was it in his hands, and then made him self visible then. The blue man turned and stopped dead in his tracks when he caught sight a floating, pasty-faced, silver-haired teen with glowing green glaring at him.

Casually he just tipped his hat a little over his head and said, "And who do we have here then?" he smirked, "Some little kid playing hero when it's way past their bed time."

"And what's your excuse, shouldn't the elderly get at least nineteen hours of sleep," the boy shot back smirking making the blue man in front of him scowl, "Besides _that_ didn't belong to you."

"So you want to play with the big boys huh? Well try this on for size kid. _Mumbo Jumbo_!" He pointed his wand at Danny and a swarm of cards that could cut through metal came rushing out.

Danny merely turned intangible and they passed harmlessly through him with out leaving a single scratch. The man looked surprise for a moment before tapping his chin thoughtfully with his wand. "Let's see now, it seems safe to assume that you're that one little ghost called Danny Phantom?" He pointed his wand at Danny.

"Yep," he nodded confirming it, "And you are…?"

"The name is The Great Mumbo, the world's greatest magician," Mumbo took out a pack of card and send them over his head in an arc before making them disappear into thin air, "Famous for my amazing array of magic tricks and illusions," he ended by making a bouquet of flowers turn into sparkle that formed to spell out his name. "And don't you forget it."

Danny couldn't help but hold back the urge to roll his eyes. This guy had almost a long of introduction and ego as Technus did. The only thing stopping him from thinking they could possibly be related in some way was that the blue skinned and _alive _one in front of him didn't yell out his title every two minutes like the green skinned and _dead_ one did.

"Are you done yet?" Danny asked absent-mindedly, honestly, a bit bored and the fact that he hadn't even gotten a full night's sleep in nearly a week wasn't helping out his urge to just doze off. Even one of Lancer's lectures were more fun than listening to villains give long winded introductions.

Mumbo's eyebrow twitched at the remark then regained his usual demeanor, "You know kid I have another trick up my sleeves that is sure to teach you a lesson about using that smart mouth of yours." The blue man rolled up his sleeves and rubbed his white gloved hands together, "_Mumbo Jumbo!" _He clapped his hands then spread his arms in a wide arc.

A silent moment passed between with nothing happening with Danny just looking confused and Mumbo still having his arms out in an arc. Mumbo sweat dropped at not seeing his magic hadn't taken affect looking a bit like a fool. Blinking Danny looked to his left, right, and behind to see if there were any surprises but there was just him, the tall blue guy and a bunch old stuff in the room.

"Um... dude, nothing's happened," Danny pointed out. _'What's with the magician get up and magic words?' _he thought. At the moment it didn't looked like this guy was much of a threat but he was certain that the weird energy signal that he had found was Mumbo's but at the moment Danny was starting to think that it was just an accidental release of power instead of a controlled one like he had originally thought.

Mumbo in the mean time was having his own thoughts rushing through his head, _'Why didn't my magic work?' _he asked himself nervously. His magic had always reacted to his command but for some reason it wasn't responding. The magician was sure it would work as this spell was not new to as he had used it on the Teen Titans before to shut one of the members up, preferably the green one, and each time it had been successful. What was different this time?

Thinking fast Mumbo considered resorting to plan B. At first when he was sent to retrieve the item in his coat pocket he didn't really think it was necessary to bring this silly device along but his employers had insisted to ensure the success of his little errand. Personally he had no idea what it was for or what use it was to him but it was supposedly highly effective according to what he was told.

The three Hive kids had returned back at their employers' hideout empty handed, looking like something the cat dragged in, and with the big stupid one coming down with a very bad cold and covered in dirt from the shoulders down to his toes. It was hard to believe that the kid in front of him was the same one who was able to single-handedly take down the former Hive Academy's best students.

They said that what ever this thing was would be perfect for sustaining the 'white-haired punk' long enough for him to get away with the prize. _'Still… maybe my magic was just at a temporary fluke,' _Mumbo considered the possibility the smiled, _'A direct spell him won't work but what about a different kind of spell…?' _

It was worth a try and the teen ghost didn't like the grin that was on the man's face a few seconds ago and tensed making sure that his instincts and senses were on high alert for anything this guy might throw at him.

Mumbo took out his wand and raised it up above his head and waved it in a circle, "Mumbo Jumbo!" he brought it down and pointed at several suits of ancient Egyptian armor, each holding a different style of dangerous weapons. They started to rattle and creak and soon stepped and moved on their own as they were brought to life.

"_Ahh…_" he said smugly, "So my magic _does _workafter all but for some reason I can't casts spells, hexes, or curses on you. Oh well!" He shrugged, "That doesn't change the end of the show one bit. Get him!" Mumbo commanded the suits of armor and pointed at Danny.

Metal did as it was told and all rushed with weapons held high to do their master's bidding. Danny couldn't help but role his eyes, "Do you really think those things can hurt me?"

"Not really but this might," he held out a small green marble and flicked it to where Danny was floating. It bounced on the ground giving a melody like sound when it hit the floor then rolled and stopped just underneath the ghost boy. It suddenly exploded and a green smoke erupted forth.

It made the teenager cough and his eyes water and he couldn't help but drop to the ground on his hands and knees and he desperately coughed from the fumes. "_Why_ (cough cough) _is this _(cough cough) _affecting me?_ (Cough)"

Thinking quickly Danny's eyes glowed even brighter as he called upon a strong concentrate of ectoplasm in his hands. It grew smaller but glowed brighter and brighter until it was white before Danny released it in a circle around him expanding it and driving the gas away from him.

At last he could breathe and he stood up to face Mumbo who looked somewhat impressed, "Not bad kid but I still doubt that you'll beat me." He casually strolled over to where the item he had been busy stealing had fallen to and bent down to pick it up. "Now if you don't mind… I'll be taking this now."

"Oh yeah, we'll see about that!" Danny challenged ready to fight and began to charge at the man who merely stood his ground with his hands behind his back with a amused grin on his face that made him growl.

As Danny came near he was abruptly hit from the side by a heavy and strong force sending him straight into a stone pillar and cracking it upon impact. Groaning and shaking his head to clear it he saw about five warriors of Egyptian times forming a line of defense in front of Mumbo, with weapons out and ready to fight.

"Oh _great," _muttered Danny sarcastically, "This guy has friends, but hopefully they won't be that hard to beat."

He got in a fighting stance and waited for them to throw the first move. When facing a new enemy, he had learn that letting them have the first punch most of the time was best in order to determine an enemy's strength.

The metal men began their assault, one with a chained seethe threw at the ghost boy who ducked and threw a tiny (much smaller and weaker than what he was hoping for) ghost ray at it sending the armor back sliding on the floor. From the side came another swing a sword high aimed at Danny's stomach, reacting on instinct, he moved to the side but not fast enough as the sword grazed the hybrid's side. Danny grimaced in pain and held his side. He looked down at his hand and saw fresh ectoplasm on his gloved hand.

Danny couldn't believe that he had actually been hurt, most normal objects couldn't hurt him, so how could theses thing injure him? They didn't have any traces of spiritual energy at all. Seeing the shocked expression on his young opponent's face Mumbo couldn't help but grin.

"_Ah_ so that stuff does in fact work…" He straightened his posture and crossed his arms in front of his chest. Danny looked up confused.

"Why the heck can those things hurt me?" he questioned angrily trying hard to keep down his confusion.

"Simple actually, you see that gas that you were so nicely suffocating in a few seconds ago is special remedy that can apparently cancels out any being's power," Mumbo explained while carelessly twirling his wand in one hand like a baton. "Meaning at the moment you're pretty defenseless." He leaned over and whispered, "_I'd run if I were you_." He abruptly halted the wand twirling and pointed it at the white-haired teen, "Get him," he commanded the suits of armor.

Danny could barely manage to keep up as the armor plunged him into a fierce assault of weapons and miss the sharp and blunt killing metal by mere centimeters. All the while trying in vain to call up any of his powers, a shield, intangibility, and ecto ray, anything!

While Danny pondered a way to somehow get his powers to respond Mumbo pointed his wand at a throne display and gestured the throne to come forth with his finger. Like an obedient little puppy the chair came by rising into the air and floating behind Mumbo before setting itself back down on the ground. Satisfied the blue man sat down and got comfortable. _"Now this should be a __**great**__ show…" _he thought out loud to himself as he sat back and relaxed enjoying the fight scene taking place before him.

'_Darn it! I can't call up any of my powers,' _the young ghost thought as he ducked from a swinging ax and pushed off the floor with his hands to land a kick on the armor sending it crashing to the ground where it came apart with a great clatter on the floor. **"Ha! **Not so tough now are…you?" Danny faltered as the armor suddenly levitated and swirled around before reassembling itself. "Oh crud—whoa!" Danny hastily rolled to the left as another attack came from one carrying around a chained seethe as it came swinging around barely missing him. It was pulled back and released once more aimed straight for his neck.

Jumping into the air and flipping over the armor he quickly grabbed onto its shoulder blades and threw it over his shoulder slamming it against the wall where its metal chest was pierced by a decretory spear hanging on the wall. Panting Danny got ready as another came at him swinging a sword at him Danny was forced to back up a bit to avoid the blade. Mumbo's metal man swung its sword low at the teen's feet at an attempt to trip him and temporarily disable him before the battalion delivered a final and fatal blow. Instinctively, Danny jumped so the sword swept underneath harmlessly, bringing his weight down with as much force as possible he landed on the sword making it embed slightly into the tile floor.

Grabbing the hilt of the sword Danny swung his body around to deliver a kick throwing the armor away into a glass case, the glass cut deep into the metal making it motionless. Still holding on to the hilt of the enemy's blade Danny grabbed it with both hands and unlodged it from where it ad dented the floor and positioned it in front of him in battle mode. "Alright who's next?"

On cue three suits attacked from all sides. Bringing the sword in front of him to block a mallet that came sailing his way, the force of it pushed the white haired boy back a bit making him grit his teeth as he pushed it to the side where it twirled in the air then came back to earth to rest at the far end of the room away from its owner. Danny panted then let out a yell as his ran up to the armor that he had just disarmed, jumped and brought the blade over his head with as much force as possible managing to make a clean slice straight down the middle cutting the old armor in two.

It staggered for a moment before a collapsed with a clatter, no longer a threat lying there as nothing more than broken metal. The magic that had once given it life was gone as the metal was no longer fit to continue on fighting. A grin came across Danny's face though it quickly disappeared as he yelped and clumsily brought the sword up to block an on blow from two other armors that both held identical spears in their hands. Neither gave the young half-ghost much of a chance to do anything but dodge.

Danny stumbled back with sweat sliding down his face; he couldn't keep on dodging forever. _'These things have got to have a weakness,' _he thought as he back flipped to avoid being tripped by one spear and pierced through the chest by the other. _'Wait a minute!' _A picture of the armor he had cut in half and of the one that had been pierced by the spear and the one that had crashed into the glass case it suddenly came to him. _'Of course the moment that the armor had been sliced or pierced by a sharp edge they didn't get up, meaning all I have to do drive something sharp through the armor.' _

Getting back in a fighting stance, the ghost teenager waited as the two of the three remaining armors, that were the ones holding the spears, came rushing at him one from behind and one from the front. _"Just a little closer," _he whispered to himself. At the last moment Danny pushed the sword into the floor and using it as leverage jumped off of its hilt into the air just as the spears were about to pretty much turn Amity Park's local ghostly hero into 'hero on a stick'. It was too late to stop as instead of piercing through a fifteen-year-old half-ghost, Mumbo's metallic minions ended up driving each other's weapon through the other. They stood there twitching for a few seconds before the collapsed with a clatter.

As he stood there panting, eyeing his last opponent that wished to impale him, Danny's head perked up when his heightened hearing picked up the sound of cops and his parents quickly coming no less than two minutes away. He needed to wrap this up fast soon. Sweat dropped down his face, he was already tired to begin with when he had gotten here and he was near his limit as far as staying in his ghost form was concerned with.

Mumbo who had stood back in the side lines the whole time enjoying the spectacle seemed impressed on how well his ghostly obstacle was doing. He was almost as good as Robin of the Teen Titans… The sound of sirens alerted him that it was time to go. He stood and brushed off some imaginary dust, "Well I'd love to stay and watch the end of this but I do have another show to put on and it's just something I can't miss." Mumbo got up and said, "Besides I have what I came for and I got some great entertainment. So long kid!" He gave a two finger salute and a bow and disappeared with a whirl of his cape.

The tired out ghost boy looked angrily at where the strange man had suddenly disappeared but wasn't given much of a breather to rest and recuperate much of his energy, and ponder as to where Mumbo could have disappeared to before he had to sloppily dodge an attack bent on slicing him around the abdominal region with a dangerous looking saber. Danny looked around for something sharp to stab the armor with and get this fight over with before he reverted back into human form. He happily spotted one of the fallen armors' axes lying about.

Unfortunately, that brief moment of hesitation and distraction gave the last of the metal minion a chance to slash away at the young ghost child who had, thanks to his instincts, rolled away in time to avoid a killing blow. Danny gasped in pain, however, as he clutched his calf that was now bleeding profoundly ectoplasm down his now shredded pant leg and into his boot.

He struggled to get up as his injury prevented his leg from responded. Groaning and wincing in pain, Danny panted and looked over at the armor that stood looming over him with its weapon raised over its head and brought it down. The teenager managed to push off with his good leg as hard as he could to leap out of the way of the saber and crashed hard against a nearly display smashing it in the process.

Someone must really love to see Danny Phantom in pain as the crash into the case sent a painful electrical jolt through his body since the display was wired with a ghost shield. That was about it for his powers as he changed back unknowingly.

'_This isn't good, I'm close to turning back, I can't keep this up for much longer,' _thought Danny. A sudden wave of pain brought him down to the ground clutching his calf with ectoplasm dripping onto his gloved hand. Luck was definitely not on Amity's hero's side as of lately. Grimacing and with eyes shut tight with pain Danny heard the sound of armor metal shoes making their way closer and closer to where he was near defenseless.

Danny opened his eyes and gasped at realizing that he had changed back into his human form without even realizing it. He tried to call back his ghost form _"Come on. Come on!" _he grunted urgently but was unable to get the two white rings to get past is neck and all that did was leave him drained of energy and his vision a little dazed from the blood loss.

He silently cursed, a shadow fell upon him and he looked up to see the armor with its saber raised high over its head with one arm. Desperately, the now human Danny reached out behind him and grabbed the first solid thing that he could get his hands on and held it out in front of him like a dagger. He closed his eyes as the saber came down with the sound of metal slicing through the air awaiting for his end that he was certain would come.

Sitting there Danny waited for the blow that never came, cracking open one eye he dared to look up and saw that the armor laid limp with the saber in its hand pressing softly against the skin of his neck. The piece of the display that he had used to try and put a barrier between him and the killer warrior jammed straight dead center in the knight's chest armor and there for removing the magic and reducing it to its original lifeless form.

Danny slumped out of happiness that he was still alive and of nervousness at yet having another 'near-death-only-to-be-saved-by-his-oh-so-famous-pure-dumb-luck' moment. Danny chuckled lightly, "Man now that was close-!" He was pressed onto the floor since the armor was no longer able to move, gravity did its work by having the two hundred pound metal suit fall straight over onto Danny. "Ow," he said, "Ok this is _way_ too close for comfort."

He grunted as he pushed the armor off of him letting it clatter onto the floor on his side. And sat up before attempting to stand, his leg wasn't bleeding or hurting as much but it still hurt enough to almost make the ghost boy yelp when a loose piece of wood from the display that he had just destroyed lightly bumped his injury. As he silently stayed there silently cursing he heard a familiar screeching of tires followed by a crash and the sound of angry voices. It could only mean one thing that filled his every fiber of him with dread.

His parents had arrived…

* * *

Raven sighed as she shut her book and placed in a pile next to her and grimly rubbed her temples. She had been pouring over her books in hopes of finding something that could help out on the night's robbery as to what exactly they were looking for. So far, all that she find out about what was stolen was the exact same thing that she had read on the plaque. It was nearly morning now and her teammates had long since gotten back after they had all gone to get some pizza and gone to bed.

Of course, Beast Boy and Cyborg had to be carried back to the group's home due to both changeling and half robot had over did it one of their idiotic competitions on who could eat the most pizza and ended up in an unconscious state due to cheese overload. Starfire had flown in with the half robot and Robin behind carrying a green boy by the legs.

In none of her books could she find anything that remotely resembled what she was looking for. Sighing she got up to get another book, there wasn't anything on what the heck the talisman was in Egyptian Mythology or Ancient History at all but there had to be something, anything…

Skimming through the title of books neatly aligned on her shelf she stopped at one made of weathered black leather with dark green binding around it. Raven decided on looking through just one last book before going to bed and getting some rest. She wasn't exactly the most generous person when she didn't rest and when she was cranky it was something that even most villains feared. Most of them knowing, from experience, the difference between the normal cranky Raven and a sleep deprived one.

Raven pulled it out and started absently turning the pages absently, she yawned and continued to walk back to her bed before she suddenly tripped and fell face down onto the floor. The book flew out of her hands and landed with the cover up just a foot from her head. Growling irritably she glared with black glowing eyes at what had caused her to fall. It was nothing more than a pen which was then thrown against the wall by a black stream of magic.

Raven took a few calming breathes before she finally got her temper and magic under control and began to rise off the floor. She stopped when she spotted her book in front of her and frown a she reached to retrieve it. As Raven lifted the book up she paused when she noticed something odd. Her book had fallen on top of a mirror that Starfire had lent to her and was probably knocked onto the floor from when Beast Boy had rushed in earlier to try and escape his horrible fate that Raven had played a hand in.

But the mirror itself is not what made the young sorceress hesitate but rather what was being reflected on the mirror's face. Raven stared down with a raised eyebrow; she leaned for a closer look. "What the…?"

She cocked her head to get a better view and raised the book slightly to see the full picture being reflected. In the mirror was a picture of what looked like half of a message in some strange language embedded onto a picture of an eye inside a circle that had four stars on it. She curiously looked at the message more closely and immediately recognized the language of being ancient Romanian. "Ele..nts …align… reveal…tone…_what does that mean?" _

It didn't seem as though the message was complete there were huge bits of it missing that kept it from making sense. Raven pulled the book away from the mirror and flipped it so that she could see the picture. It was a small print at the bottom of the page. She had read part of this book before but before she had always thought the little symbol to be a small illustration for the little paragraph next to it and so never really paid much heed to it…until now. Even though the writing was in Romanian the style of the print was clearly from Egypt.

The half-demon found it very odd that two completely different cultures from different times would coexist side by side like this. This mystery kept on getting weirder and weirder by the minute not only did the crime make sense but neither did the evidence or the history at all. Massaging her temples Raven looked down at the picture once more to see if she could manage to make heads or tails of it before she went to bed.

For some reason it looked vaguely familiar…

Her eyes widened with realization, she raced back to her bed and scattered her books off her bed not caring as they landed on the floor, at last she found what she needed. Clutching it tightly in her hand Raven hurried back to the book on the floor and the mirror and smoothed it out on the floor. The paper she had retrieved a few seconds ago was a copy of a picture of the talisman that had been stolen.

Carefully, she used her magic to cut the talisman picture to just the talisman. Then she laid the cut out on top of part of the message to where it seemed to be cut off. Raven couldn't help but feel a wave of disappointment, she was so sure that it would fit…

"_Wait a minute!" _The half-demon looked at the mirror next to her and narrowed her brows. Without a moment of hesitation she picked it up and angled the book above the mirror. It had the same effect as before, the print that was on the picture was in the same language as in the book, she just wasn't reading it right, which explained why she couldn't find anything that matched because it was backwards! Raven read out what it said on the cut out.

"'_Me'" _Raven observed the reflection in the mirror and decided to try something, slowly, with a bit f anticipation she moved the cut out over to where first word was and placed it to where she felt a bit was missing. With that a word formed, _"Elements…" _she whispered.

She turned the book right side up and started reading the little paragraph next to it.

'…_This symbol was found on one of the pyramids of Egypt that was called by the Egyptians the Pathway of Souls. Though, the pyramid is believed to no longer exist it is said upon the walls founded in King Tut's tomb of his soul first climbing up the pyramid to be judged in the after life afterwards the rest of the story could not be decrypted for part of the wall had crumbled away. It is said though that this was the key to uncovering the final resting place of Ra the sun god as it was for him the pyramid was said to be constructed for…'_

Raven was not only tired, but also confused, and getting a serious cramp from sitting in the same position for so long. It seemed that every bit of information she gained only led to even more questions than before which helped her in no way what so ever. Rubbing her temples she decided on letting Robin and the rest of her team in on her discoveries after she had gotten some sleep.

She summoned a pen and a piece of paper and wrote down the words she had found then called forth the book and placed on her dresser. Yawning she marked the page of the book by placing the slip of paper inside and closed the book and walked to her bed. Raven couldn't help but sigh when she noticed the mess she had made and without a second thought, she telepathically lifted them and with her magic made the books neatly arrange themselves back on the shelves.

With that done she crawled under her cover she closed her eyes grateful to have some rest after a late night of chasing down villains and nonstop research. Her eyes closed and in no time she was sound asleep with the only noise in the room being her steady and even breathing.

"_**GOOD MORNING RRRRAAAAAAVVVVVVVEEEENNNN!!" **_

Raven shot up right in her bed from being awakened in such a loud and annoying manner. Her ears were ringing from such abuse of having such an acute change from blissful silence to the sound of her least favorite person with a megaphone prancing around like the idiot he was in her room.

"_**AND HOW ARE WE TODAY?" **_Raven's eyebrow began to twitch as a number of various death scenes played into her head.

Beast Boy, oblivious as usual, just kept going. _**"COME ON NOW SLEEPY HEAD THE SUN IS SHINING THE BIRDS ARE SINGING AND I'VE JUST MADE MY WORLD FAMOUS TOFU PANCAKES!" **_

Raven was glaring coldly at the green boy, though she had an expressionless face on the flaming magic that surrounded her did a good job at displaying her true emotions. "No,"

"_**OH COME ON RAE," **_Beast Boy insisted, still not getting the message, _**"YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO…" **_He placed a plate of steaming tofu pancakes underneath her nose while Raven looked away with disgust and pushed the plate away from her.

"I said _no," _she said with more ice layering her words.

"_**OH COME ON! YOU CAN'T START THE DAY WITHOUT A SMILE AND A NICE PLATE OF—"**_

"I_ said __**NO!!" **_she roared.

Beast Boy let out a high pitched scream as Raven glowered down at him.

The sounds of someone being beaten up and smacked repeatedly could be heard all the way to the Teen Titans' living room where the other three members were wincing and staring at the doorway.

"_**AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"**_

No one moved or said anything as they kept staring at the door. Then, came the sound of footsteps and the door slid opened to show Beast Boy with a fat lip, a black eye, several bruises and bandages around his body, and a plate of tofu pancakes on his head. He limped a few steps before he tripped at the stairs and tumbled down with a yelp and a groan of pain landing face down on the floor.

Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg walked over to where their friend was and they could clearly see the shape of a foot nicely indented on Beast Boy's back side. He managed to raise his head up to look at his teammates, "_She's…not …hungry…uh,"_ His face fell back to the floor.

The others just blinked for a second before Cyborg turned to Robin smirking, "One minute sixteen seconds. I win."

* * *

**Just in time for the end of the year too. I just can't believe it took me this long to update. Well it's at least a decent length for a chapter and it has a nice little fight scene too more info on what Mumbo has stolen I will be including more IM between Raven and Danny soon but for right now I have no clue since my brain is killing me with all these tests my teachers have been throwing at me. I say it's just plain cruel to make us take our finals on the last day of school. It should be illegal. Happy Memorial Day everyone.**


	6. Chapter 6

**See I told you all it wouldn't take as long for me to update this time. And this chapter is focusing mainly on the interaction between Raven and Danny. Something that is way over do by now but was just didn't have any good idea or time until now.**

* * *

_**Chapter 6**_

* * *

Of all the stupid things that Beast Boy had done in the past to somehow unintentionally annoy Raven, this one was definitely ranked up in the top twenty. Right after the time he had spilled hot sauce into her herbal tea and before he had accidentally washed the sorceress's favorite blue cape with Starfire's hot pink mini skirt. And for proof of that was the green changeling who was currently moaning in pain on the couch while holding an icepack to his head and nursing his injured backside.

"Would you like some more ice for your injuries, Beast Boy?" Starfire asked her fallen friend with concern.

"Ugh, yes please," Beast Boy managed to groan in pain.

The alien princess flew into the kitchen to make a new icepack for the green teen. While she was busy humming, happily to be of some service to her friend, Robin and Cyborg both sat on either side of the other male member of the team, unable to resist the perfect opportunity in front of them to have a little fun at Beast Boy's expense.

"_Sooo…_I'm guessing that she wasn't hungry?" Cyborg quirked, obviously amused with his fellow teammate's misfortune.

Beast Boy groaned, clueless to the mockery underneath the innocent question, "Man what is up with her? I was just trying to be nice."

"Yeah well, even _you _ought to know that you shouldn't ever wake Rae up with a mega phone," Cyborg pointed out, snickering heartily. "That's just begging to get your but kicked."

"Ugh tell me about it," Beast Boy agreed, rubbing his poor posterior that had yet to lose the clear indention that the sorceress's shoe had made.

"Friend Raven is not one who enjoys the dawning of the sun and it is often best that we all leave her be until she wishes to venture out of her room on her own," Starfire stated. Being the only other female in the group, she was the one who was closest to the half-demon girl and understood that her friend was a not a morning person. "It is not wise to disturb her, especially after the events of last night. Friend Raven seemed a bit concern for what was stolen and was most likely trying to do research the entire night."

"I don't get why she would be so interested in some old rock that was stolen," Beast Boy said curiously, sitting up with the ice bag placed promptly on his head. "I mean, the thing didn't even have that much security around it, and you said it yourselves that there wasn't anything special about it."

"That may be so," Robin said, walking towards where the other three were comfortably sitting. "but that's what been bugging me. Why would Mumbo go after just that one small stone when there were plenty of other valuable objects that he could also stolen when we were there? Everything else what still there except for that one item. It's just not like Mumbo to take something like that."

"You're right," Cyborg exclaimed seeing what his friend meant. "Mumbo usually goes for money or even precious gems but this time he went after something old that no one has a clue what it does or what its purpose was."

"What's the big deal? So he stole some crummy little rock, you said it yourself that no one knows what it's for," Beast Boy asked confused not quite up to speed as to what his friends were getting at.

Robin paced back in forth in front of them deep in thought. "That's why it's bothering me, either Mumbo knows what it does and it plotting something or is working for or with someone else." He sighed and stopped his pacing. "But since we don't have any leads so far the best thing we can do know and wait and see if anything else happens or if Raven manages to find something in one of her books."

"Perhaps until such time that we have new evidence to aid us, it is best for all of us to do the chilling and hanging out rituals of this planet," Starfire suggested.

Robin seemed to ponder this for a bit before replying with a small smile. "You know... that is actually sounds like a good idea."

Beast Boy and Cyborg suddenly looked at spiky-haired boy like he had just grown a second head. It was Cyborg who snapped out of it first. "Are you serious?" he asked with uncertainty, finding it hard to believe the words that had come out of his friend's mouth. A friend, by the way, who frowned upon shirking from their responsibilities as the city's defenders and acted like a thirty year old all the time.

"You feeling okay?" Beast Boy questioned.

"Yeah, I thought BB was the one who took a blow to the head."

"Yeah, I thought--_Hey! _Wait a second! What's that supposed to mean?" The changeling sent a heated glare at Cyborg for the jibe.

Cyborg was ready with a retort but Robin cut him off. "I'm fine you guys. I just think that it would be best to rest for today so that incase something turns up, we'll be ready to face it," Robin explained. Turning to the kitchen getting himself a bag of chips from the cabinet next to the fridge. "The crime rate has really gone down now that the Brotherhood is gone, only a few scrimmages here and there with some newbie villains..."

"But we quickly sent those guys backing with their tails between their legs." Cyborg grinned.

Robin nodded, "Exactly. But something tells me that we're not done with Mumbo yet so I want all of us rested just in case."

_"Soooooo_... Today's a free day?" Beast Boy clarified hopefully, sitting up in anticipation from his spot on the couch.

"I guess so." Robin shrugged.

_**"WHOOOH HOOO!! **_**FREE DAY!" **Beast Boy cried in joy, jumping off the couch three feet into the air, his injuries apparently completely forgotten at the thought of a day off for the young heroes. He immediately pulling out the TV guide and flipped quickly though the pages. "There's a marathon for Violent Action Ninja today, they're showing all five movies back to back with no commercials and special deleted footage that wasn't even released on DVD!" He said squealing like an obsessed fan girl.

"Uh-uh, no way." Cyborg proclaimed, snatching the TV guide away from Beast Boy, flipping the pages to a two page add in the middle of two giant hulk-like men inside a ring wearing brightly colored tights. "We're watching Wrestle Smack Down 8 today. Six straight hours of nothing but sweet, _sweet_ wrestling, all leading up to the three way cage match between Death Lord, Rock Smash, and the undefeated champion... _**Sumo Nokusimi!" **_

_"No way! _Ninjas beat wrestlers every time. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity we're talking here." Beast Boy argued, grabbing the guide back and flipping back to where the ad was and shoving it into Cyborg's face. "They are _never,_ and I mean _never __**ever,**_ going to show this again for another ten years!"

Cyborg calmly pushed the guide down from his face with one finger. "So watch it then 'cause I'm not missing watching the ultimate fight in the history of wrestling. Do you realize that this will probably be the only time those three will be allowed in the same country together, let along in the same ring?!"

"So go watch it somewhere else!" Beast Boy shot his hands in the air.

"Are you insane, you know that this is the only room in the tower that gets high definition surround sound with five-hundred watts of nano waves. You go watch your little movie marathon somewhere else." Cyborg pushed Beast Boy off the couch, letting the green boy fall to the ground with a yelp while he settled down comfortably on the couch and flipped to the desired channel.

"No way, I called it!" Beast Boy shot up and made a grab for the remote. His fingers managed to brush the very edge of it before Cyborg pushed him away with one arm and holding the device away with his other arm as far as possible.

"Too bad, man. I'm not going anywhere," Cyborg said to the struggling changeling behind his palm.

"Wanna bet?" he challenged, morphing into spider monkey and slipping out of the half robot's hand, onto his arm, and scurried to the prize. Cyborg's eye widened and immediately started to shake his arm, trying to get the green primate off of him, and more importantly from getting the remote.

"Yo man! Get off!" Beast Boy only '_eeed'_ and clung to the metal arm as hard as he could until he morphed into something more suitable. Suddenly a large python was wrapping itself around Cyborg. Upon seeing a giant green snake around him, the titan struggled to release his arm while making sure to keep the remote even farther away.

Meanwhile, Starfire and Robin followed the action from the safety of the kitchen, watching as Cyborg hoped on one foot while half his body and face was now covered with a large green octopus that was their fellow comrade Beast Boy.

"Should we perhaps intervene?" Starfire turned to ask her friend (and for some time now, crush) after she heard a crash, resisting the urge to cringe at the sound of something smashing into several pieces.

Robin just looked on a bit amused. "Don't worry Star," he assured her. "They'll probably get tired of it soon enough. For now let's just have something to eat."

"Perhaps..."

_"...Give it!"_

_CRASH!_

_"Not on your life!"_

"...and what of friend Raven?" the alien princess inquired, glancing over to the door, hoping that the other female titan would soon emerge from it. "She has yet to come out of her room and I am most anxious for her," she said with concern for her friend clear in her voice, "Lately I have noticed that she prefers a much longer period of time alone that what is her usual amount of solitude, and I and ill with the worry."

"I know." Robin nodded. "My guess is that she just wants to be alone for bit and I think we should back off and let her have her space."

_SMASH!_

_"Hey, hey, hey! No BITING!"_

_CRASH!_

Starfire cast another worried look back at the door and sighed. Robin was right, she thought. Raven just wanted to be alone for a bit and it was the best thing for her at times. After all, Raven was the one who probably had the most power out all of them, but the least control as well... She knew that the sorceress often meditated, Starfire on occasion joined her, as it was necessary in order for her to maintain a firm grip on her emotions and her magic. For now she'd let her friend have her space. If Raven did need someone to talk to she knew that Starfire would be more than happy to listen and give her as much support as possible.

Returning her attention back to acquiring this morning's nourishment Starfire glided over to Robin, who was pouring himself some cereal while watching his two friends battled it out for the remote control. She opened the fridge and pulled out a strange looking blue fruit with pink spots on it and began to happily much on her native planet's fruit. The female titan glided next to her Robin and joined Robin in watching Beast Boy morph into a bird and fly high up to the roof, with the remote in his beak, and Cyborg below him chasing him around with plenty of objects to throw at the green bird.

* * *

Raven yawned, stretching a bit and working the kinks out of her neck. The curtains were drawn in order to block out the sun from intruding on her sleep, but Raven didn't need to see the sun to know that it was most likely past noon by now. Sighing, she crawled out of bed and made her way to the closet, grabbing a new leotard and cloak before making her way to the bathroom down the hall.

She stepped into the shower and let the water soothe her. The splatter of water was always a calming lullaby to her, which is why she enjoyed it when it rained. Everything seemed so clean and refreshed when it stopped, making it seem like the problems from before had been washed away by the rain. Raven let her thoughts drift away and found herself thinking about that stone that had been stolen. It had been bothering all last night, she knew that there was something important about it, she could sense it, but she just didn't know what.

Still, she thought as she turned off the shower and stepped out to towel off, since there was hardly anything to go on, except for what she had found that morning but even that was more of another question than an answer. She supposed the best thing for now was to take a bit of a break. It didn't help her team if she was cranky...well...more than usual at least.

Raven quickly dressed, gathering her dirty clothes and sending them down the laundry chute. It seemed pretty quiet walking back to her room, meaning that either the team was somewhere else in the tower or out for pizza. And after she had given Beast Boy a thorough thrashing for earlier, she was more than certain that she wouldn't see hide nor hair of him until at least tomorrow.

The door to her room slid open as she walked in taking the sight in front of her in. There were a few books still on the ground and the bed was unmade, but she just didn't feel like tidying anything up at the moment. In fact, the half-demon didn't feel like doing anything at all. Sure she had her books but they could only provide so much comfort and besides, they were just stories and nothing more. Meditating was just something that Raven couldn't bring herself to do, not when she was trying so hard to get her mind off her powers. For the past few days she had tried to use as little of them as possible and had begun to even isolate herself more and more from her team mates.

It would be the anniversary in a couple weeks. One year since the day that her so called 'father' had nearly destroyed the Earth, had it not been for her friends. Memories of that dark day still haunted her, no matter how hard she tried not to think about them. They were still there, in the back of her mind like a misplaced shadow. As of lately, nightmares had crept into her subconscious while she slept, and it was only through sheer will power that Raven had managed to keep herself from screaming loud enough to wake her friends.

The half-demon didn't dare to tell her friends her fears since she didn't want to worry them. She hated to admit her fears to anyone, including her closest friends. But probably why she had yet to tell them was because she didn't know exactly _how _to tell them. Raven was never an emotional person to begin with and the most someone could ever get out of her was a smile, and just suddenly blurting out her feelings was something that had even less of a chance than Beast Boy changing his socks more than twice a month.

Sighing, she flopped onto her bed and stared at the ceiling, pondering on what to do. Turning her head to gaze at her dresser, her laptop that rested on top caught her eye. Getting up off the bed, Raven picked up the sleek, black machine with the symbol of her planet on it that she had asked to be put there when she ordered it, making her way back to her bed and starting it up. Thanks to Cyborg's computer genius it took less than ten seconds for Raven to be logged on. She supposed a bit of mindless web surfing would help to keep her mind temporarily turned off.

Raven raised an eyebrow when she noticed a small message. _'Ghost boy is signed on.' _She had almost forgotten about this. Moving the arrow over, she clicked and signed on as well allowing her access to the messaging link. It was purely out of boredom and because she didn't want to seem rude to this person by not talking to them.

_**Raven: hey**_

_**Ghost boy: hey back**_

_**Ghost boy: long time no see**_

_**Raven: yeah**_

Raven couldn't help but feel a little awkward, she had always been a quiet person and that trait seemed to be evident even online.

_**Ghost boy: so anything new happened?**_

_**Raven: no, not really. **_

It was true. There was nothing new that was out of the ordinary in her life, so technically it wasn't a lie and Raven didn't reveal anything that would come back to haunt her.

_**Raven: you?**_

_**Ghost boy: one strange thing did happen.**_

_**Raven: what was it?**_

_**Ghost boy: promise you won't laugh**_

_**Raven: promise **_

_**Ghost boy: i saw a midget, a giant, and a purple kid in the park and a blue magic guy stop by the museum and do a few tricks.**_

Okay… That made Raven raise an eyebrow.

_**Raven: that so did not happen**_

_**Ghost boy: hey you don't have to believe me. i just told you what happened and you can choose to believe it or not**_

_**Raven: you know there's no need to get so uptight**_

_**Ghost boy: sorry about. that i've just had a rough day so far**_

_**Raven: what do you mean "so far"?**_

_**Ghost boy: how does two tests, one pop quiz, mystery meat, and being shoved into a locker four or five times in two hours sound like**_

She felt a tiny bit of sympathy for this person. Normally she could care less about when she heard teenagers complain about this sort of stuff at the Titans' favorite pizza place or Raven's favorite book store but this person had actually bothered to apologize so that had gotten them points with her. Most people didn't even bother to acknowledge their rudeness towards her, but she was used to that.

_**Raven: i wouldn't exactly know since i've been homeschooled all my life**_

True enough, she never actually attended any public or private school in her entire life. Everything she knew had been taught to her by the monks of Azarath and from her own personal studies, and there weren't a lot of students that the monks taught. If there were she had never met them and most likely they've been kept away from her for reason. She was the daughter of the demon Trigon after all…and that didn't make you a lot of friends too easily. 

_**Ghost boy: lucky you didn't get any strict, rule happy teachers then huh?**_

_**Raven: not quite**_

The monks were firm and strict with her, never the less, they still were good teachers.

_**Raven: they were strict but they were good teachers**_

_**Ghost boy: really? what were they like then?**_

Raven hadn't really thought about any specific memories of her home in a long time. Amazingly she found herself thinking of one of the few happy memories of her childhood, particularly one of her first lesson in magic. She still remembered the day that she first experienced that flaring energy inside of her. Untamed and not yet fully matured or tried, it was exhilarating. When she had cast her first successful spell with the results she wanted. Even though neither she nor her teacher showed it but they were both proud of her.

_**Raven: they were nice but fair, they didn't play any favorites at all and pointed out all my mistakes and made sure to help me to learn and improve from them**_

_**Ghost boy: wow, sounds like one hell of a teacher**_

_**Raven: yeah, so what about you? **_

_**Ghost boy: well let me think… they all love to give me detention and favor the jocks and preps **_

_**Raven: that doesn't sound fair**_

_**Ghost boy: that's high school though, it's a struggle for social survival for four consecutive years**_

Raven had never been to public school and to find out about what it's really like had perked her curiosity.

_**Raven: why do they give you detention?**_

_**Ghost boy: i've been late a few times to their classes…**_

_**Raven: how many times is "a few" exactly?**_

_**Ghost boy: let's just say that you have a better chance of a teacher not giving out homework for a whole year than me being on time for three straight days**_

_**Raven: why are you so late all the time then?**_

_**Ghost boy: i just have stuff to do that involves hectic hours**_

Hectic was something Raven was used to, but then again she was a super hero, it was normal for her to be busting criminals at all hours imaginable. But what could this guy have to do that's hectic, was what she asked herself. It wouldn't hurt to try and satisfy her curiosity.

_**Raven: what do you do that involves hectic hours?**_

_**Ghost boy: i have a job **_

_**Raven: then why don't you just cut back your hours or have them changed?**_

_**Ghost boy: believe me if i could would but i can't **_

_**Raven: you're not trying to just get out of school are you?**_

_**Ghost boy: yeah 'cause every kid wants to be struggling to pull off a C- average and constantly having the school in your face about 'applying' yourself **_

The sarcasm was evident in the message and Raven could even imagine the person she was talking to rolling their eyes at her.

_**Raven: so what's this job that you have that's so hectic?**_

_**Ghost boy: social services**_

_**Raven: ?**_

_**Raven: okay… try being a little less vague**_

_**Ghost boy: how about we just say that i'm cleaning up the community and leave it at that**_

_**Raven: if you're cleaning up then shouldn't that be valid for an excuse or are you just really bad at it?**_

Before Raven even thought about she had clicked send. Her friends understood her dry humor and sarcasm but others found it a little blunt and cruel at times. The female Titan didn't want to offend this guy, not when she had just met him and they were talking on the internet. Before she knew it he had sent a message back and it really surprised her to see he wasn't one bit offended.

_**Ghost boy: oh ha ha**_

_**Ghost boy: okay little miss perfect what do you do then when you're not homeschooled?**_

_**Raven: i read**_

_**Ghost boy: that's it?**_

_**Raven: no but it's what a lot of people with brains do**_

_**Ghost boy: great, now you're sounding just like my sister**_

_**Raven: well maybe she might have a point**_

_**Ghost boy: yeah, yeah, yeah. so what else do you do?**_

Raven pondered her next few words carefully.

_**Raven: i'm into gothic stuff**_

_**Ghost boy: cool**_

_**Raven: really?**_

_**Ghost boy: yeah**_

_**Raven: and you don't find that weird or creepy**_

_**Ghost boy: nope. my best friend is goth and she's one of the coolest people i know **_

A small smile crept onto Raven's face. It's wasn't often she found someone who didn't mind her darkness other than her friends.

_**Raven: i'm a little surprised at that**_

_**Ghost boy: at what?**_

_**Raven: the fact that you don't find this weird at all**_

_**Ghost boy: believe me, weird is something that's normal for me**_

_**Raven: can't be weirder than me**_

_**Ghost boy: wanna bet**_

Raven wasn't much for these sort of stupid little competitions but for some reason she actually found herself enjoying the conversation. Even though she had no clue who this guy was and it was on an online chat-room, it didn't bother her in the least, and rose to the challenge on screen.

_**Raven: sure, you go first**_

_**Ghost boy: gee where to start…? My sister is a total basket case and at times a spas, my best friend is an ultra-recylo-vegetarian goth, my other best friend is a carnivorous meat lover who sleeps with his PDA and names his technology, and my parents design weapons for the military in their free time. **_

Violet-blue eyes blinked for a second, trying to decide whether to be a bit shocked or annoyed. In the end she settled for the first question that popped into her head.

_**Raven: he sleeps with his PDA?**_

_**Ghost boy: yep, and not only that but he calls it his 'baby' and once I think I even saw him almost propose to it**_

_**Raven: is it even possible for someone to love a piece of metal and plastic that much?**_

Then again, she thought ruefully to herself, there was Cyborg and Beast Boy as prime examples to how obsessed teenage boys could be when it came to electronics that displayed graphic images of violence and brightly colored imaginary characters.

_**Ghost boy: oh yeah, and that's not even the half of it**_

_**Raven: something tells me I **_**really **_**don't want to know the other half**_

_**Ghost boy: good, because I don't want to go through the nightmare of telling it**_

_**Raven: that's nice, but seriously **_

_**Ghost boy: i am serious**_

_**Raven: oh really, then another question**_

_**Ghost boy: shoot**_

_**Raven: what's an ultra-recylo-vegetarian?**_

_**Ghost boy: it's pretty much someone who doesn't eat anything with a face on it**_

_**Raven: and this is the same friend who's goth as well**_

_**Ghost boy: she sure is**_

_**Raven: what's she like?**_

_**Ghost boy well she's smart and independent, pretty blunt, and doesn't take any crud from anyone, and she packs a pretty mean right hook**_

That sounded like someone Raven would like to meet.

_**Raven: i like her already**_

_**Ghost boy: yeah I can actually imagine you guys getting along pretty well**_

_**Raven: and what about your sister? you mentioned that she was a bit of a basket case…?**_

_**Ghost boy: oh yeah, she can't ever be wrong but i mean never. the one time that she was wrong she completely fell to pieces and stayed up for two straight days drinking more coffee than truck drivers looking through all or her personal diaries for miniscule errors **_

_**Raven: that's…really something**_

_**Ghost boy: yeah, but on the bright side I got to read a few of those diaries and i now have a few little bits of blackmail for the future**_

_**Raven: that's a little immature don't you think?**_

_**Ghost boy: maybe but since i'm her little brother it's my job to be immature**_

Raven rolled her eyes. Great, someone who actually enjoyed being as immature as Beast Boy.

_**Ghost boy: so what about you? got any siblings?**_

_**Raven: no**_

_**Ghost boy: only child then huh? that must be nice**_

_**Raven: at times yeah; i like peace and quiet**_

_**Ghost boy: if that's the case then i suggest you don't ever come near my house **_

_**Raven: why?**_

_**Ghost boy: peace and quiet are considered taboos here**_

_**Raven: something tells me i don't want to know**_

_**Ghost boy: that's probably for the best. okay since i've just gave you the basic idea on my weirdness it's your turn to share. **_

_**Raven: fine i'll start with my friends. one acts like an adult, another is constantly perky and happy, and two of them are obsessed with video games and television.**_

_**Ghost boy: that doesn't sound too bad**_

_**Raven: you're not the one who has to live with them though**_

_**Ghost boy: come on, what's the worst thing about them then?**_

_**Raven: i'd like to see you try to hang out with someone who barely washes their socks**_

_**Ghost boy: can't be worse than my friend's so called 'cologne' **_

_**Raven: what's so bad about cologne?**_

Raven was used to all sorts of smells by now and sure there were some smells that she could live the rest of her life without ever wanting to know but how bad could one bottle of perfume be?

_**Ghost boy: nothing… except for it made him smell like a sweaty cookie **_

Okay, ewww…

* * *

**I had wanted for this chapter to be longer but I don't want to extinguish the topics these two can talk about too soon otherwise I'm going to hit another writer's block and that's the last thing I need right now. **

**Hope you all enjoyed this and thank-you to all of my wonderful reviewers who are so patient with me. But I'm not going to get much of a break it seems until Turkey Day vacation.**

**Special thanks to my awesome beta-reader **_**inukagome15! **_**Because without her well… considering how horrible I am at proof reading and grammer this would would look really sloppy and of poor quality.**


	7. Chapter 7

**_Chapter 7_**

* * *

Cyborg cautiously checked both ends of the hallway before tiptoeing quietly and dashing quickly behind a nearby potted plant at the sound of footsteps drawing near. His circuits were on high alert; motion sensors, energy receptors, thermal and night vision powered to max, and he had ensured that his new electromagnetic shield was turned on just in case.

In short, not even a bit of dust would be able to get with ten feet of Cyborg without him knowing.

Speaking of which… they really needed to dust better around the corners here.

Cyborg started to sweat and tremble in fear as the footsteps got closer and closer. _'Don't panic,' _he berated himself. _'Take it easy. It's just a short elevator ride to the garage and then it's sweet sailing to Paraguay.'_ He gulped nervously as he dared to leave the safety of the plant to see if it was _them_.

"Phew." He let out a breath of relief. It was probably just his paranoia acting up and not his sensors.

"Hey Cyborg,"

"_AAAAHHHHHHHHH!"_

Robin looked up curiously at the half robot clinging to the ceiling, "Uh, Cyborg…what are you doing?" The spiky-haired teen asked curiously.

Cyborg glanced up…well down… at the Teen Titans' leader and relaxed a bit, "Hey, man don't scare me like that," he spat out angrily, "You nearly gave me a heart attack." The ceiling caved in from the metal man's weight dropping him heavily down on the ground with a loud '_thud'. _

He stood up with a groan, rubbing his sore head, shaking it a bit to get rid of the fuzzy colors in front of his vision. Cyborg stopped catering to his head when he heard something jingle underneath him. He stood up, finding that his new sonar graphic transmitter was now smashed to pieces.

"Aw man! Not my new transmitter!" _And it had taken a week to get it installed too_. He was too busy mourning over the loss of his latest equipment to notice the strange looks Robin was giving him.

"Is something wrong?" The half metal member of the team was acting so weird all of a sudden. Cyborg had been fine at breakfast…Then again… maybe Starfire's glorgian pie flakes were the cause of his friend's sudden strange behavior… They had given off a strange glow.

The boy wonder's fellow teammate shot back up onto his feet cradling his broken machinery close to him. Cyborg's jitteriness was really starting to make Robin start to wonder if Cyborg had gotten hit in the head during their last battle. A steel girder to the head obviously hadn't done the half metal teen any good.

"Uh… Cyborg?"

Cyborg turned around and stared Robin right in the eye, looking around to see that they were alone. He then leaned in and whispered. "Didn't you notice something a bit… _odd_ today?"

"Umm… no," Robin stated dryly. Other than his friend's behavior there was nothing out of place and there was no criminal activity at the moment so he was at a loss as to what had Cyborg acting like the hounds of hell were after him.

Robin yelped as Cyborg grabbed him and started shaking him back and forth hard enough for Robin's stomach to turn uncomfortably. "_Hellooooo_. BB? Ringing any bells here?"

Robin ceased struggling to get out of Cyborg's grip long enough to ask. "What about Beast Boy?" What did the little green changeling have to do with the way Cyborg was behaving, he wondered.

The boy wonder didn't have much time to follow his train of thought as he suddenly found himself grabbed by his shirt collar and shoved inside a nearby broom closet, his protests falling on deaf ears. "Cyborg what is going on?" he demanded. Honestly, Cyborg's actions were starting to fall under the 'annoyingly weird' category now.

"This better not be another game of indoor mud ball." Robin didn't have time to be playing another one of Cyborg's and Beat Boy's stupid games again. He still hadn't gotten over that one incident with half his hair getting singed off.

Clicking the light on the half metal teen quickly ducked his head out of the closet and looked both ways to ensure that the two of them were alone. "I haven't seen BB around since breakfast."

"So?"

"Sooo… I haven't seen _Raven _around since yesterday either. Don't you find that a little odd?"

"Calm down Cyborg. Beast Boy is just probably off somewhere playing a video game and Raven is most likely in her room." Robin reasoned, "There's no reason to be so paranoid."

Cyborg shook his head furiously. "Uh-uh! That is so not the case. Raven isn't in her room. I checked, and I can't find BB in any of the game rooms or the arcade. Heck! I've even checked under his bed and in his closet but he's not there."

"What's the big deal if you can't find Raven or Beast Boy?" Robin wondered, still not seeing a logical reason for his friend's irrational demeanor.

"DUDE! Don't you remember what Raven said to us?"

_(Flashback)_

_Turning around she left them with a rather unpleasant taste in their mouths of what was to come, "And by the way... I haven't forgotten and believe me, you'll all pay and Beast boy, I _**will**_collect after this is all over no matter what."_

_(End Flashback) _

"And guess what man… collection day is _HERE!" _

"Cyborg, you're just being ridiculous." But there was less confidence in the boy wonder's voice now. There was no denying that when Raven wanted to get even with someone she **would **get even, one way or another.

Cyborg wouldn't give up as his fear of Raven seemed to have canceled out any common sense left in him. All of his systems were on escape mode and his computer data base was currently checking all possible flights out of the country. "Okay let's review the evidence shall we. One; Beast Boy has been missing since this morning."

"Beast Boy disappears for days sometimes if he has a new game." Robin reasoned.

"Two; Raven has also been missing."

"Raven usually spends time by herself. You know that Cyborg."

"Three; Raven has been acting weird lately, as in she's been a lot happier." Cyborg started shaking Robin back and forth like crazy. "Do you hear what I'm telling you? Raven. Has. Actually. Been. HAPPY! Raven is never happy."

Cyborg let go of Robin, who had to grab hold of his head to stop it from bobbing up and down like a bobble head. It took another minute for the small closet to stop spinning. "So our friend is happy. Is that really such a bad thing?"

"And that's not the freakiest thing…" Cyborg leaned in close and whispered in a serious tone. "I heard Raven laughing."

A pause passed between the two of them. Not a normal pause but a "something bad is about to happen to you" type of pause.

"You heard Raven laughing…?"

Cyborg nodded and with that gesture Robin's jaw dropped to the ground and his face turned white. Maybe he had heard wrong, maybe this was all some sick, cruel prank that Cyborg and Beast Boy had thought up, or maybe it was Starfire's glorgian pie flakes messing with his brain. Yes, that had to be it, anything to explain the words that had just come out of Cyborg's mouth. There was just no way that their teammate Raven could have possibly been laughing, she just didn't; sure she would smile but actually _laughing! _That just immediately fell into the category of impossible next to Beast Boy reading an actual book with no pictures cover to cover and Batman wearing a pink flamingo costume…

It just wouldn't happen. At least not in this dimension, in an alternate reality maybe. And the was a **BIG **_maybe._

"Are you sure it was Raven?" Robin questioned with his face paling significantly by the second. "Are you sure Starfire wasn't in Raven's room with her?" The boy wonder was desperately looking for some small strand of hope that he could hold onto.

Cyborg shook his head vigorously. "Nope. It was definitely Raven." There was no doubt in Cyborg's voice at all, only the sense of knowing the horrible truth. "She was laughing and BB is now missing." Now close to hysteria Cyborg started to shout. "Do you hear what I'm saying! We are going to DIE!"

Robin's instincts instantly kicked in, and his natural leadership talents tooked hold. He knew that they needed a solid plan if they were ever going to live to see the light of day again. But first things first, noticing the half metal teen curled up into the fetal position in on of the corners of the small box they were in and sucking his thumb, Robin knew that he needed to get Cyborg thinking straight again.

Casually taking off one of his gloves he swiftly slapped it across Cyborg's face, effectively whipping Cyborg's head to one side. He then slipped it back on while the mechanic of the crime fighting group snapped his head back into place—along with a few loose screws in his brain…

"Thanks man, I needed that."

"No problem,"

"And don't worry, I have a plan." Cyborg gave Robin a thumbs-up.

* * *

"_This is your **plan**!" _Robin hissed as he adjusted his body so that he was no longer close enough for the goat in the crate next to him to continue eating his cape. And it was his good cape too!

Cyborg shooed away some chickens, which had taken perch on his shoulders, and shot a dirty look at Robin. "You got a better plan?"

"Um yeah…" Robin said, engaging in a game of tug of war with the goat that had taken a liking to his cape. "We could have just _driven _out of the city and to the airport."

"Dude, I told you. If we had taken one of the vehicles Raven might have noticed and she would then start hunting us down sooner. It's better if we fly the coop under the radar to give us the most distance between her and our lives." Cyborg explained. True, he wasn't enjoying having chickens look at him as a roosting spot but every mile that the nice farmer with whom they had hitched a ride with took them meant another mile that they had to live. "And the guy did say that he would take us all the way out to the country."

"Are you sure that's what he said?" Robin asked. After all, the guy was speaking Spanish. And none of them knew the language… Except maybe Starfire, but Robin wasn't willing to go down that train of thought at the moment. Not when he was currently sitting in the back of a rickety old truck that managed to find every little bump in the road and that was loaded with farm animals, including annoying goats who clearly didn't understand that Robin's clothing and his hair were _not _food.

Cyborg nodded. "Don't worry, I took Spanish 1 in high school and passed with a C+," he said confidently.

The boy wonder sweat dropped a bit. While a C+ was still passing it wasn't enough to actually reassure Robin about their current situation. It didn't matter now, Robin decided as he was thrown, yet again against the goat crate. His top priority now was living long enough to get to a foreign country. Hopefully, a country where no one would ever think a teen hero would hide out in—maybe Canada or Panama **(AN; I have nothing against these countries but I couldn't think of anything else).**

Suddenly, both Teen Titans were thrown into each other as the truck finally came to a violent halt.

"Here we are." The truck driver called out with a heavy accent to his passengers in the back. "_Out of Country_."

Robin got up and jumped down stretching his badly tortured muscles and back, popping his bones back into place and savaging his now badly eaten cape. Cyborg was right behind him dusting off bits of hay and stray feathers.

"Aw man!" Cyborg face twisted into disgust. "Please tell me that's not what I think it is." Sure enough as he retracted his hand from his right shoulder the gooey reminanys of one of the chicken's breakfast was now clearly visible on both the android's shoulder and his hand. Robin also grimaced at the sight of Cyborg's traveling companion's little _gift. _"Man that is just _nasty."_ Cyborg shook off what he could and sulked when it became clear that he would have to travel with chicken poop on his shoulder or at least until they found a bathroom or something.

"Just be happy nothing tried to eat you." Robin held up what was left of his cape with a sour face. Maybe he ought to reconsider his costume design. The cape was cool and all but it didn't seem all that great when livestock found it a tasty travel snack.

Cyborg wiped his hand against a trash can removing some of the goo. "Let's just get our tickets and get going. If we're lucky we'll be able to cross the Mexican border by midnight."

The two Titans made their way into the building that they assumed would grant them the tickets to their freedom. Keyword being _assumed. _

"Hey, why did we have to go all the way to Canada in order to get plane tickets, couldn't we have just gotten them online?" Robin asked as they stood in line to buy their passes to their new lives in Paraguay.

"That's just the sort of thing that Raven will look for man. If we get our tickets in person and in another country there's a lot less chance of her discovering where we went. Add the fact that we just hitched a ride with some dude with farm animals, this plan is fool proof. There's no way for her to track us."

"She can use magic…"

With that Cyborg's ego had just been bumped down with an unflattering splat. "Man, why did you have to ruin my moment."

Robin couldn't help but smirk. "Sorry Cyborg."

"No you're not."

Robin didn't bother to argue and just continued to look innocent as the line moved up.

Soon it was their turn.

"_Hola_, _Konichuwa, Guten Tag, Shiloh, Bonjour, _and _Hello_. Welcome to Out of the Country. May I take you'r order?"

Cyborg and Robin both froze. That was an odd thing for a person selling travel tickets to say. "Excuse me?" Robin looked at the teenage girl behind the counter with the '_I hate this job and I'm so bored' _attitude.

The girl behind the counter didn't even bother to look up from the register. "Sir, if you are not sure what to get then might I suggest the premium German Chocolate Value Meal or the English Royal Supreme. If you're still not sure then would you please step to the side for the other customers."

"This can't be right!" Cyborg exclaimed. "This was supposed to be our chance at freedom!"

"If it's freedom you want then how about the New York Yankee Pizza, made from an original New York recipe." In the same monotone that spoke of not really caring, the girl kept on reciting the script that she had memorized for minimum wage. "Or how about the Liberty Beef Sandwich? We guarantee that all of our meat is up to standards with the national sanitary requirements involving all processed animal parts. Which part you receive is under no part the responsibility of Out of the Country—"

"I don't care about your legal meat problems!" Cyborg shouted, finally getting a reaction from the girl behind the counter. She looked up. "The guy with the weird accent said that he'd give us a ride out of the country!"

"This is _Out of the Country, _one of the leading international fast food restaurants of Connecticut with over four locations across the state." The girl stated, clearly unimpressed with the male Titan's dramatic scene.

"You mean this isn't even CANADA!" Cyborg exclaimed.

"Pff! If this is Canada then I'm Michael Jackson," the girl scoffed.

Cyborg's mouth opened wide in horror upon the realization that his plan had just horribly backfired. His carefully constructed and panicked-ridden plan had just blown up in his face. And if that wasn't bad enough, he had chicken droppings on his shoulder and a sore butt from the bumpy ride.

"Then why did he have live animals in the back of his truck?" Robin questioned. The employee raised an eyebrow at them and jabbed her thumb towards a door.

"_Petting Zoo!"_ Robin cried out.

The cashier nodded. After being on her feet and dealing with all sorts of customers for five hours without a break, it didn't matter that two members of a world renowned crime fighting team was standing before her or that getting a picture of them in the state they were innow—shocked and looking like they had spent the last week on a farm without showering—would make her rich enough so that she could quit her current lowly paying job. She could've cared less about their problems. Her next words proved that statement.

"So are you going to order something or not?"

* * *

"_Friend Raven!_ Where have you been?"

Raven turned to the overly peppy alien of the Teen Titans. "Hey, Starfire." She greeted going back to making herself something to eat. She had missed breakfast and lunch and the sorceress was ravenous.

"I was so worried that you too had suddenly disappeared." Starfire said gleefully, floating beside Raven.

The alien's statement had quirked Raven's attention. "What do you mean disappear?" That's when she noticed that something was wrong—it was simply_ too_ quiet in the tower. "Where are the guys?"

"That is what has been feeling me with the feeling of dread." Starfire replied mournfully. "I have not seen Beast Boy as of yesterday and today both Cyborg and Robin just vanished."

"Well, I think I know where Beast Boy is."

Starfire made an instant emotional U-turn and went from depressed to super happy in a fraction of a second. "That is wonderful news! So where is our green friend?"

"I saw him some out of the new training room." Raven replied.

"But I thought that Cyborg had told us that it's still not finished." Starfire said. "Friend Cyborg had said that the maze program was still infected with insects."

Raven shrugged. "Looks like Beast Boy hadn't been listening and went in there anyways."

The pieces quickly falling into place as to where the changeling had vanished to for the majority of the day. "He most likely just ended up getting lost in there and just now had gotten out." She reassured her friend.

Starfire nodded in agreement and followed the other female Titan's lead and also began to prepare an early dinner for herself and made sure to make a little extra in case some of her other teammates also wished to partake in some from her native planet's cuisine. After all, Beast Boy would always turn even greener than he usually was whenever he tasted her planet's food.

"Perhaps you are correct. But then what became of our friends Cyborg and Robin?" Starfire asked as both female Teen Titans sat down to enjoy their meals.

"I'm sure that whatever it is that they're doing that it's nothing we ought to worry about. It's not like those two would do something _too _stupid." Raven turned her attention back to her empty stomach and began to eat.

Starfire bobbed her head in agreement, her mood much lighter in knowing that her friends were perfectly fine and in no way in some sort of wild predicament. A few moments of silence passed between the two friends before Starfire once again spoke.

"Friend Raven."

"Yes?"

"I have also been wondering where you have been."

"In my room." Raven simply stated.

"Yes, but what have you been doing?" Starfire clarified. "I am aware that our current lack of knowledge about the current plans of Mumbo Jumbo is of importance, but surely you couldn't be spending _all _of your time doing research." Starfire suddenly perked up. "Have you been doing the chatting with your new friend in the computer?" She asked excitedly.

Raven's fork went back down to her plate as she gazed thoughtfully at the table. Another moment of silence passed before Raven finally answered. "I've been… gathering information from other sources besides my books."

Starfire seemed genuinely surprised at this. "But I thought that you had a vast collection of magic related books."

"That doesn't mean that I have _everything_." Raven countered. She was starting to feel uncomfortable with this conversation, even if it was Starfire.

The red-haired girl didn't need anything to tell her that her friend was growing uneasy, despite her desire to quench her curiosity about the sorceress's activities over the past few days, Starfire respected the fact that Raven preferred to keep some things private until she was ready to share them. Hoping to lighten up the suddenly uneasy atmosphere, Starfire attempted to divert the conversation.

"So what new information have you been able to discover?"

"A lot actually. Things that I hadn't even thought of," Raven said, gratefully for her friend's consideration. It was moments like these that made Raven happy to have such good friends as the ones she had. "I've managed to find some new information on those stones that Mumbo stole. I've been meaning to tell Robin but he's not here."

"He will be most joyous upon hearing that you have uncovered some new clues."

"Hopefully. You know how he gets when he can't figure out a case." Raven smiled wryly.

Starfire let out a giggle. "Indeed he gets the case of the holic worker."

"It's… workaholic Starfire."

_(one hour later) _

After eating and a quick meditation session with Starfire, Raven had retreated back into her room and was propped comfortably on her bed with her laptop in her lap, a now all familiar web-page on the screen. She logged in and opened up her messages. Sure she had found out that there was the option of having multiple chats but Raven had quickly learned that the other people online simply weren't all that interesting (or normal) to her. There was only one person online that she liked to talk to…

_Speak of the devil…_

_**Ghost boy: anybody home?**_

_**Raven: yeah, how are you?**_

_**Ghost boy: i'm fine, i got my butt royally handed to me and was shown no mercy in air hockey by my so-called best friend, but fine**_

_**Ghost boy: how about you?**_

_**Raven: i'm fine as well, anything new happening with you?**_

_**Ghost boy: (shrugs) not really. I managed to steal my sister's diary the other day**_

_**Raven: that's not nice**_

_**Ghost boy: who said I was nice?**_

_**Raven: better be careful or she might just take revenge **_

_**Ghost boy: HA! and an extra HA! i'd like to see her try**_

Raven couldn't help the knowing grin on her face upon remembering the morbid punishment she had issued onto Beast Boy when he had tried to look for a diary of some sort. She didn't have a diary but that didn't mean that she was about to let the tofu loving shape shifter off easily for coming into her room and looking through her stuff.

_**Raven: you're going to regret that sooner or later**_

_**Ghost boy: no i won't **_

_**Raven: yes you will**_

_**Ghost boy: i won't **_

_**Raven: you will**_

_**Ghost boy: what makes you so sure…?**_

_**Raven: why? afraid?**_

_**Ghost boy: no!**_

_**Raven: and why not?**_

_**Ghost boy: simple math. favorite teddy bear + matches = stay alive free card**_

_**Raven: aren't you bad at math?**_

_**Ghost boy: oh shut up**_

One thing that became very apparent after a few more chat sessions with this person was that he seemed to be a very trusting and honest guy. Raven knew that it was a guy just by some of the things that they had talked about. Things that only guys would say. At first they had just started by trading likes and dislikes, favorite movies, music, things of that nature. She'd tell him about being 'home-schooled' and he would in turn tell her about the wonders of American public education.

It had been only a little over a week and yet Raven felt like she had known this guy for a lot longer than that. A strange feeling of happiness would sometimes come over her upon realizing that she was actually making a friend with someone who was probably, and most likely, an average and normal teenager instead of the usual super-powered ones she tended to hang out with, seeing that she was a superhero and all. It wasn't that Raven minded the friends she had among the super-gifted of this world but she would be lying to herself if she said that she had never longed to have a normal friendship with someone who didn't have to worry about super villains trying to take over the world at least once a week.

Of course Raven was careful; she refused to let her guard down for a moment and kept her answers to the really personal questions generic. The whole episode with Terra still left a prick in the Titan's heart. Also, just because the conversations took place online there was still no guarantee that it was completely safe. As a crime fighter, Raven was well aware how dangerous cyberspace could be—she had dealt with just as many missing children's cases as super-villain cases as well.

_**Raven: by the way thanks for your help**_

_**Ghost boy: no problem**_

_**Raven: don't get offended but I was sort of surprised that you knew all that**_

_**Ghost boy: most people are, but that's one of the luxuries of having such weird parents, they have just as weird friends**_

_**Ghost boy: I have more stuff if you're interested**_

_**Raven: what sort of stuff?**_

_**Ghost boy: i asked one of my mom's friends about ancient ruins and she told me about this book that may be of really big help to you**_

_**Raven: what's it called? **_

_**Ghost boy: it doesn't really have a title. most people just refer to it as a guide or almanac**_

_**Raven: then how am I supposed to find it?**_

_**Ghost boy: my mom's friend told me what it looked it like**_

_**Raven: is it online?**_

_**Ghost boy: probably not. apparently this book is really rare and most are either locked up in museums or in someone's private collection**_

_**Raven: so how does that help?**_

_**Ghost boy: just putting it out there. it's best to always know which options you have and how many you have**_

_**Raven: okay, so what does it look like?**_

_**Ghost boy: black, old, thick, and with some sort of seal on the front of an eye inside of a snake biting its tail or something like that**_

_**Raven: okay, i'll keep an eye out for it **_

_**Ghost boy: i hope your report is going okay**_

Raven couldn't help but feel a little guilty for lying, but it really was just a harmless little white lie, and as far as _**Ghost boy **_knew, she was just a home schooled kid doing a research paper on magic traditions of the world's ancient cultures. It was mostly true, in a way. She was doing research on magic of ancient civilizations but it wasn't for educational reasons.

The information that she had gotten, courtesy of her online chat buddy, were all things that Raven had been using in order to figure out the mystery behind the rock that Mumbo had stolen almost two weeks ago. Even with the tremendous amount of data that _**Ghost boy **_had sent her it had only helped a little concerning Mumbo. The only upside was that Raven had finally found someone who she considered her intellectual equal in the matters of the paranormal. Robin had his criminology, Starfire had her alien knowledge, Cyborg had his technology, and Beast Boy… had _some _knowledge. It was rarely used, but it was still there… somewhere.

Raven bit her lip as she wrote back, pushing aside the small feeling of guilt. This was for the better anyways. It was highly unlikely that this guy would believe her if she told him the truth. As strange as his life sounded hers would definitely be lot stranger than a high school kid's.

Right?

_**Raven: it's coming along. I'm nowhere near done though**_

_**Ghost boy: and that's why homework sucks**_

_**Raven: come on, it's not all bad**_

_**Ghost boy: yes it is**_

_**Raven: you're just being lazy**_

_**Ghost boy: P **_

_**Raven: real mature…**_

_**Ghost boy: :P**_

This time Raven rolled her eyes. This guy was proving that he could be just as immature as Beast Boy…

_**Raven: are you done yet?**_

_**Ghost boy: ;P**_

_**Ghost boy: okay i'm done now**_

_**Raven: do you have the brain of a three year old?**_

_**Ghost boy: i resent that!**_

_**Raven: well, it's true**_

_**Ghost boy: you're just as bad as my sister **_

_**Raven: why don't you try acting a bit more your age then… maybe that'll get people to stop thinking you're a toddler**_

_**Ghost boy: and why should i care what other people think miss "i don't fit into society and nor do i care"?**_

Raven couldn't help but glare at her computer. She could almost see _**Ghost boy's **_smirk in his words. After reciting a meditation chant in order to make sure that her temper didn't get the better of her, the sorceress replied back.

_**Raven: i'll put this in terms that YOU can understand**_

_**Ghost boy: HEY!**_

_**Raven: it's called proving people wrong and showing them that you do have the capabilities of doing something so that way they'll take you more seriously**_

_**Ghost boy: but what if you don't want people to know the true extent of your abilities…?**_

Her fingers froze over her keyboard.

The message had hit very close to home. How often had she been afraid of other people's reactions when they saw her powers? How often had she feared what people might say or do if they saw just how _deep _her powers went? She could never forget the look on some of the monk's faces after that one incident on Azarath. A memory that would forever be engraved in her mind yet stored somewhere where well hidden because of the pain that it brought her…

Even with her friends, the people whom she trusted the most in this world, Raven was still careful to never go beyond a certain limit with her powers. If only to maintain some peace of mind that she had enough control to avoid hurting anyone, innocent or guilty alike, Raven did not wish to be feared as a monster.

_**Raven: it's your choice whether you want to show them or not**_

_**Ghost boy: i guess… but what if some things are better to just better left hidden? what then?**_

_**Raven: they stay hidden i guess…**_

_**Ghost boy: what if they get out somehow?**_

_**Raven: i don't know… has that ever happened to you?**_

There was no reply for a while and Raven began to think that _**Ghost boy **_had logged off but that wouldn't have made sense since he always said good-bye, no matter how unexpected it would be, he would always say that he would be gone. The same as her whenever an emergency in the city popped up…

Just as Raven was about to close her laptop, he wrote back…

_**Ghost boy: yes…**_

_**Raven: what happened?**_

_**Ghost boy: i ended up hurting the people i cared about and it had all been my fault because i couldn't control what i could do**_

Raven found herself in a whirlwind of conflicting emotions. This conversation was starting her to make her feel very uncomfortable. It was like this person had reached deep inside her and found her deepest fears and insecurities, things that she didn't even tell her fellow Titans. What's more was that whoever this person was, they seemed like they had experienced something the same things that she had experienced with her powers.

Although Raven highly doubted that they were talking about the same things as what she had gone through, nonetheless it still felt relieving to know that there were other people who have had the same insecurities and fears that she has had and understood what it was like to have those emotions and not being able to tell someone because of fear. Whatever it was that happened to them might have been different but that didn't mean that the emotions weren't the same.

_**Ghost boy: has that ever happened to you?**_

Raven hesitated and then wrote.

_**Raven: yes, more than once too**_

_**Ghost boy: that must've sucked **_

_**Raven: it did**_

_**Ghost boy: sometimes my abilities just leak out without me meaning to**_

_**Raven: when does that happen?**_

_**Ghost boy: the same way when every other person on this planet does things that they'll later regret…**_

_**Ghost boy: i get angry enough that i don't think about anything but hurting someone or something**_

Another stabbing feeling ripped through Raven. Her heart sped up as she read those words. Of course, anyone could have said this and it would be universally true but something about this person—someone who she had known online for only over a week—didn't make it sound like some rehearsed line that people were fed in order to make them feel better.

This felt… _real…_

_**Ghost boy: suddenly that's the only thing that matters… all of my self control just disappears… it's like i'm watching a horror movie and i can't stop it **_

_**Ghost boy: and you want to know the scariest thing of all?**_

_**Raven: what?**_

Anticipation flooded Raven and she waited for his next words to appear on the screen.

_**Ghost boy: the scariest feeling is knowing that i'm that monster that everyone is afraid of**_

_**Raven: yeah, i know what that's like… since i can be counted as a monster**_

_**Ghost boy: what makes you say that?**_

_**Raven: people fear me**_

_**Ghost boy: join the club, a lot of people are afraid of me too**_

_**Raven: i thought that you got shoved into a locker at least three times a day?**_

_**Ghost boy: i do**_

_**Raven: then… care to enlighten me**_

_**Ghost boy: …**_

_**Ghost boy: people can have different identities right? With a certain group you're this type of person and with others you're also another person**_

_**Raven: right**_

_**Ghost boy: when a certain situation arises i become someone else, almost like i have a double identity**_

_**Raven: what kind of situations?**_

_**Ghost boy: out of the ordinary ones**_

_**Ghost boy: what about you? why do you think you're a monster?**_

_**Raven: i don't think, i know **_

_**Ghost boy: why?**_

_**Raven: my dad… he can be counted as a monster**_

_**Ghost boy: so?**_

_**Raven: that means that i have the blood of a monster **_

_**Ghost boy: but that doesn't make you one. it's your choices that make you different from your parents**_

_**Raven: that may be but i'm still what i am. it's not like i can change that**_

_**Ghost boy: you could wish for it to change**_

_**Raven: i don't believe in wishes**_

_**Ghost boy: good. sooner or a later they come back to bite you in the butt**_

A smile formed on Raven's face. For some reason, Raven found this person's biting and sarcastic sense of humor actually humorous. It was a far cry from the rather…_lame _attempts that Beast Boy tried. AND at least this didn't involve outrages schemes that always seemed to end up with the changeling and at least one other Teen Titan with some sort of physical or emotional damage.

_**Ghost boy: back to business… so what if you have a bad dad? it's not like you can pick your parents**_

_**Raven: isn't the expression "you can't pick your kids"**_

_**Ghost boy: but the same thing can be said about parents**_

_**Raven: touché **_

_**Ghost boy: all i'm saying is that who your dad is and who you are, are two completely different things**_

_**Raven: okay then what about your parents?**_

_**Ghost boy: in a word... eccentric**_

_**Raven: i imagine ghost hunter parents would be**_

_**Ghost boy: you have no idea**_

_**Raven: but you still have some of your parents in you**_

_**Ghost boy: yes but not all of it is so bad**_

_**Raven: what i got from my dad is**_

_**Ghost boy: what? some sort of deadly disease?**_

_**Raven: no, but people tend to look at it that way**_

_**Ghost boy: well it's like one of my best friends is always saying, people are idiots but a person can be smart**_

_**Raven: that's pretty clever**_

_**Ghost boy: see as long as you have a few people who accept you as you are it's okay right?**_

_**Raven: you're right**_

_**Ghost boy: maybe they're not ready to accept all of you but if they're real friends they'll stick by you no matter what **_

_**Raven: my friends are like that **_

_**Ghost boy: so are mine. i may not be the most popular guy at school but i know that i'm one of the luckiest guys out there with them by my side**_

The sorceress could definitely relate to that statement. Having her friends by her side had made her once lonely life much better in more ways than one. After everything they'd been through together, Raven had hope that it would last for a long time. Not forever but long enough for her to not have any doubts about the feeling of belonging that she had with the Teen Titans.

_**Raven: in the end that's all that matters**_

_**Ghost boy: right, and we are what we are but it's our choices that make us human or at least somewhat human**_

Pausing, Raven reread the last sentence carefully, curiosity and a slight hint of panic travelling through her fingers and into her keystrokes.

_**Raven: what do you mean 'somewhat human'?**_

There was no way that this person could possibly know her true identity. Sure her screen name was practically a dead giveaway but plenty of other people named themselves after a bird or animal, usually with a number at the end, but there was just no way, NO _WAY! _that her identity had been exposed. Cyborg had even safeguarded her account just in case.

_**Ghost boy: i'm talking about all our nonhuman friends out there. you know the type that can't talk and enjoy nature**_

_**Raven: animals…?**_

_**Ghost boy: my friend prefers to call them our 'furry brethren' and my other friend calls them dinner**_

_**Raven: cute**_

_**Ghost boy: watching them argue is much more entertaining than anything on TV though**_

Relief filled Raven as her suspicions were laid to rest. She was probably just being paranoid, she was careful, as was her whole team (though Beast Boy most likely hadn't put THAT much thought into it when he signed her up for this). As heroes their lives were full of people they couldn't trust, and no one was willing to repeat what happened with Terra…

_**Raven: television is poison for idiotic people who want to rot their brains**_

Beast Boy was a prime example in Raven's opinion.

_**Ghost boy: if i had time for TV i'd actually watch it **_

_**Raven: please don't and preserve whatever brain cells you have left**_

_**Ghost boy: that was just low…**_

_**Raven: **_

_**Ghost boy: was that a smiley face?**_

_**Raven: what does it matter?**_

_**Ghost boy: HA! ladies and gentlemen Raven has a heart!**_

A nerve started twitching as irritation swelled up in Raven's body. Her emotions were plainly displayed on the laptop's screen.

_**Raven: that's not funny**_

_**Ghost boy: it is to me**_

_**Raven: grow up**_

_**Ghost boy: make me ;p**_

_**Raven: *rolls eyes* real mature there**_

_**Ghost boy: at least i don't avoid the important question here**_

_**Raven: which would be…?**_

_**Ghost boy: why you think you're a monster? and give me a good reason this time**_

Now what she supposed to say? Raven had only known this person for a short time… Was it really okay to divulge such sensitive and personal information over the internet to some stranger? Wisdom and logic said no. In fact, it screamed no. It told her that it was a no go that she shouldn't, it said to just refuse and then leave the chat room, to go and do something else, to never let anyone know her innermost insecurities ever again.

_And yet…_

A small part of her was thirsting for someone to talk to and so far this person seemed to understand a lot more than her teammates did.

Letting out the air she didn't even know she was holding. Raven began to type. Like an explorer she sailed into unknown and dangerous waters.

_**Raven: like you said before… i get angry and lose control, and the consequences aren't exactly something to be proud of…**_

_**Ghost boy: no one is ever proud of the things they regret**_

_**Raven: but when i lose control, the things i can do… i don't ever want to be in a situation where i can't stop myself**_

_**Ghost boy: …**_

_**Ghost boy: one time, i made this really bad choice. i don't like thinking about it. What happened after i made that choice was like something you couldn't imagine; a nightmare come true, and i found myself against something a lot more powerful than me**_

Dark violet eyes scanned the screen as an almost perfect mirror reflection of one of her darkest life stories unfolded before her.

_**Ghost boy: i felt powerless to stop it, everyone i knew suffered, and i knew it was all because of me… but you know what?**_

_**Raven: what?**_

_**Ghost boy: i managed to drive it back, because the people i love were more important to me than my fear or my own life**_

_**Ghost boy: now let me ask you this… would you die for your friends?**_

_**Raven: yes**_

There was no doubt in the half demon's mind when she answered this. No hesitation and no fear of having to face anything it was if it meant saving the people who were most precious to her.

_**Ghost boy: then there's your answer. you're no monster because you love someone else enough to put your life on the line for them. to me you sound more like a true hero and a true friend that anybody would be lucky to have. **_

A light feeling bloomed inside of Raven's chest. She didn't know what it was, but it was warm and felt safe. Was this happiness…?

* * *

**I'm tired. This is over 7000 words long! And over 17 pages long! What do you think of the conversation between Raven and Danny? And what did you think about me placing some comedy at the beginning and then ending with this emotional crap? I'm sorry that I haven't updated in like forver but I'm determined to get over my writers block even if it kills my brain! **

**I go back to school in like a week so I really have to get a move on. Tell me what you think of this chapter and don't worry I'm sure to be putting in some action in the next chapter.**

**- Bloodmoon13**


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